| Zürich Wilderness Park | |
| Alt Name: | Wildnispark Zurich |
| Nearest City: | Zurich |
| Coords: | 47.26°N 8.55°W |
| Url: | http://www.wildnispark.ch/ |
Zürich Wilderness Park (German: Wildnispark Zürich) is a wilderness park near the city of Zürich in Switzerland. It includes the Sihlwald forest, the largest mixed deciduous and coniferous forest in the Swiss Mittelland, and the Langenberg Wildlife Park, the oldest Swiss wildlife park. Both sites are situated in the Sihl Valley to the south of Zürich, but are separated from each other by the town of Langnau am Albis.[1]
The city of Zürich received the Sihl forest, or Sihlwald, as a gift in 1309 from the Hapsburgers and again in 1524 through the dissolution of the Fraumünster convent. Over the following centuries, the forest provided Zürich with timber and firewood. However, the trees have not been felled since the 1990s; this is due to the actions of forest director Andreas Speich, in order to preserve the forest's unique composition.[2]
In 1869, Langenberg Wildlife Park was founded by the city forester Carl Anton Ludwig von Orelli.
On August 28, 2009, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) declared the Sihl forest a "regional nature park of national importance".[3] The protection of Sihl forest was established through a forest reserve agreement in 2007 and a cantonal Protection Ordinance in 2008.
The Zürich Wilderness Park was formed in 2009, by the merger of the Langenberg Wildlife Park and the Sihlwald forest. Today, the park welcomes more than half a million yearly visitors, who are encouraged to barbecue, hike, cycle, and even ride horseback through the park, as well as visit its museum and attend various outdoor events.[4]
The Zürich Wilderness Park comprises two disconnected sites:
Both sites can be reached via rail service S4 of the Zurich S-Bahn, using Wildpark-Höfli station for the Langenberg Wildlife Park and Sihlwald station for the Sihlwald forest.