The reintroduction project of Cypripedium calceolus in Switzerland

In 2013, a project to reintroduce Cypripedium calceolus in the Swiss Jura was organised between the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium of Jany Renz, Basel, Switzerland and Anthura B.V., Bleiswijk, Holland with the approval of the Nature Conservation authorities of nine cantons in the Swiss Jura. Seed was legally collected from sites in the nine cantons and was successfully grown to flowering size by the commercial nursery in the Netherlands. Three thousand flowering sized plants were successfully reintroduced to 43 sites in the summer of 2018. Monitoring in successive years has shown a success rate of over 50% and much higher in some sites. The successful collaboration of conservation authorities, a charitable foundation (Swiss Orchid Foundation) and a commercial company (Anthura B.V.) in the conservation of an endangered plant might serve as a model of how other projects might be run. A version of this paper, in German may be found in Bauhinia.