They used to be alive with the – but now the Swiss Alps are crawling with clumsy tourists, and officials have had to step in to save the iconic edelweiss. One of Switzerland’s most striking beauty spots, the Riffelsee, has been trampled by so many visitors seeking the perfect social media snap that the famous flower has all but vanished from the area. The Instagram influencers are particularly eager to capture the peak of the reflected in the waters of the Riffelsee.
And now tourism authorities have been forced to fence off pastures around the resort of Zermatt to protect the area’s flowers. As well as the edelweiss, immortalised in the song from The Sound of Music, gentian and alpine golden primroses are also disappearing, the authorities say. Around 3000 tourists per day make it to the lake, and local officials are still encouraging them to visit.
But they are now required to walk on marked paths, and avoid areas sealed off the help the edelweiss return. Visitors can still observe the flowers, but only from a safe distance on narrow walkways where they can also scan QR codes for botany notes. “People don’t do it maliciously.
They just don’t realise that they’re standing on the plants,” Adrian Möhl, project manager of the Alpine Garden, said. Since the new walking routes were established this summer, the situation has improved a lot, he added. Tourism offices in the area are also said to have grown frustrated about the constant demands from visitors about w.