Capital Solutions: How Bern Plans to Cool Itself with Free Chestnut Trees

The capital of Switzerland has found a delightfully Swiss answer to global climate change: free trees. Under the municipal project Bern wachst zäme, Stadtgrün Bern and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences are handing out 150 sweet chestnut saplings to anyone with enough topsoil and a willingness to dig.

It is a charming initiative, brimming with the kind of earnest optimism that thrives in wealthy alpine democracies. For a city currently harbouring a mere 24 sweet chestnut trees on public land, importing species traditionally favoured in the sun-drenched soil of Ticino or the Poschiavo valley seems like a sensible hedge against warming summers. Sweet chestnuts, after all, withstand heat and drought far better than traditional northern foliage.

Yet the logistics of urban greening quickly bump against spatial reality. These half-metre seedlings will eventually demand expansive root space, rendering them unsuitable for tight street alignments where shade is most urgently needed. Instead, the beneficiaries will primarily be suburban garden owners, housing co-operatives, and schoolyards—the very demographics that already enjoy relatively green surroundings.

Stefan Stevanovic, the project leader at the Zurich university, envisions a future where Bern hosts its own chestnut festivals once the newly planted trees bear fruit. He insists the chestnut is not intended to displace other species, but rather to serve as one piece in a broader biodiversity puzzle. Around 100 saplings remain up for grabs via the municipal website, with planting scheduled for late autumn or winter.

There is an undeniable charm to this municipal giveaway. Wealthy, well-educated, and comfortably detached from harsher geopolitical realities, Swiss cities excel at micro-managed environmental stewardship. Whether distributing 150 trees meaningfully alters Bern's microclimate is secondary to the psychological satisfaction it provides. In a country that prides itself on spotless organization and gentle state encouragement, subsidizing private gardens with climate-resilient flora feels reassuringly wholesome.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com