Swiss government unlocks 70m to help farmers and forest owners with drought damage

Switzerland’s government is stepping up support for forestry and agriculture, two sectors hit particularly hard by drought and extreme heat. On Wednesday the Federal Council approved CHF 17.5m for forests and CHF 54m for farms. Photo by silvia lusetti on Pexels.com Switzerland is enduring an exceptional drought. Never before has the country recorded so little rainfall by mid-August, Albert Rösti, the environment minister, told reporters in Bern. The duration of the dry spell, he said, is putting pressure on vulnerable people, livestock, waterways, ecosystems, forests, farming, power generation and river transport. The government is therefore…