Encyclopedia of Global Resources part 129 docx

Sweden Categories: Countries; government and resources Sweden is important in the global export market.. Approximately 10 percent of the world’s timber export is from Sweden.. Swe-den’s

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had expressed interest in the project, but a dispute

over the ownership of genetic resources led to a

de-lay Not until 2004 did the International Treaty on

Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

(ITPGRFA) pave the way for resumption of the

proj-ect, which came to be envisioned as a backup to other

gene banks In 2005, planning for the vault resumed,

while construction, the cost of which was borne by

Norway, began in 2007

The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) funds the

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, while NordGen and the

Norwegian government manage its operation Space

in the vault is available free of charge to all

govern-ments and institutions, and the GCDT pays packaging

and shipping costs for developing countries Seeds

must have originated in the depositor’s country or be

freely available under provisions of the ITPGRFA, but

in all cases remain the property of the depositors

The vault itself lies about 130 meters above sea

level, and is built into a geologically stable hillside

near the settlement of Longyearbyen It consists of a

portal projecting from the hillside, an access tunnel

93.3 meters long, an operations office lying near the

far end of the tunnel, and three separate vaults Each

vault is about 27 meters long and is lined with shelving

designed to hold plastic boxes containing airtight

seed envelopes Temperature in the vaults is

main-tained at−18° Celsius

Impact on Resource Use

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault received its first seeds

in February, 2008, and is large enough to hold 4.5

mil-lion samples Each sample will contain some five

hun-dred seeds, meaning that the vault’s ultimate capacity

is approximately 2.25 billion seeds The vault will also

hold genetic material from plants that do not

repro-duce by seed

It was estimated that, as of 2009, there were some

fourteen hundred gene banks in the world, holding

the seeds of a 1.5 million varieties of plants However,

most of these facilities were vulnerable to natural or

man-made threats Dubbed the “Doomsday Vault” by

the media, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is designed

as the ultimate backup to these facilities and is

virtu-ally indestructible It is high enough above sea level to

be safe from the danger of global warming, and the

temperature of the permafrost and rock into which it

is built guarantees that its contents will remain frozen

at−3° Celsius even in the event of loss of electricity

Grove Koger

Web Site Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Government of Norway

Svalbard Global Seed Vault http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/

campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault.html?id=462220

See also: Agricultural products; Agriculture indus-try; Agronomy; Jackson, Wes; Land ethic; Land Insti-tute; Resources for the Future; Seed Savers Exchange

Sweden

Categories: Countries; government and resources

Sweden is important in the global export market Two

of its major resources, timber and iron ore, are main ex-ports Approximately 10 percent of the world’s timber export is from Sweden The country also exports paper and wood pulp Sweden exports approximately 90 per-cent of its iron ore and ranks in the top ten among iron-ore exporting countries Hydropower provides the en-ergy for manufacturing the many products it exports.

The Country Sweden is located in northern Europe and is part of the Scandinavian Peninsula It shares land borders with Norway and Finland It borders the Baltic Sea to the south and west and the Gulf of Bothnia to the east Sweden’s terrain is primarily flat with a predomi-nance of lowlands There are mountains in the west-ern and northwest-ern part, numerous rivers and lakes, and an abundance of forests throughout the country Vänern and Vätern, which are two of the largest lakes

in Europe, are in Sweden’s southern lowlands Swe-den’s most important resources are hydroelectric power; forests, producing timber and residual wood products; and iron ore The country’s mineral depos-its include uranium, copper, lead, and zinc Sweden’s economy is highly developed and is oriented to the export market

In 2008, Sweden was ranked seventh in the world

in competitiveness by the World Economic Forum The country’s 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of

$348.6 billion placed it thirty-third in purchasing power parity and twenty-third in GDP per capita in the world Sweden plays an active role in the global

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econ-Sweden: Resources at a Glance

Official name: Kingdom of Sweden Government: Constitutional monarchy Capital city: Stockholm

Area: 173,872 mi2; 450,295 km2

Population (2009 est.): 9,059,651 Language: Swedish

Monetary unit: Swedish krona (SEK)

Economic summary:

GDP composition by sector (2008 est.): agriculture, 1.6%; industry, 28%; services, 70.5%

Natural resources: iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, tungsten, uranium, arsenic, feldspar, timber, hydropower Land use (2005): arable land, 5.93%; permanent crops, 0.01%; other, 94.06%

Industries: iron and steel, precision equipment (bearings, radio and telephone parts, armaments), wood pulp and

paper products, processed foods, motor vehicles

Agricultural products: barley, wheat, sugar beets, meat, milk

Exports (2008 est.): $183.1 billion

Commodities exported: machinery, motor vehicles, paper products, pulp and wood, iron and steel products,

chemicals

Imports (2008 est.): $165.3 billion

Commodities imported: machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel,

foodstuffs, clothing

Labor force (2008 est.): 4.897 million

Labor force by occupation (2008 est.): agriculture, 1.1%; industry, 28.2%; services, 70.7%

Energy resources:

Electricity production (2007 est.): 143.8 billion kWh

Electricity consumption (2006 est.): 133.6 billion kWh

Electricity exports (2007): 14.74 billion kWh

Electricity imports (2007 est.): 16.61 billion kWh

Natural gas production (2007 est.): 0 m3

Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 1.006 billion m3

Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 0 m3

Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 1.006 billion m3

Natural gas proved reserves ( Jan 2006 est.): 0 m3

Oil production (2007 est.): 2,350 bbl/day Oil imports (2005): 581,000 bbl/day Oil proved reserves ( Jan 2006 est.): 0 bbl

Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009 Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.

Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA Values are given in U.S dollars Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day;

Stockholm

Finland

Norway

Germany

Denmark

Poland

Belarus

Russia

Lithuania Latvia Estonia

Sweden

B a l t i c

S e a

N o r t h

S e a

N o r w e g i a n

S e a

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omy, as both an exporter and an importer, with dollar

value of exports exceeding that of imports In 2008,

Sweden was twenty-fourth in the world as an exporter

and twenty-seventh as an importer Sweden’s major

trading partners are European countries, especially

Germany, Norway, Denmark, and the United

King-dom The United States is an important export

mar-ket, and Sweden imports significantly from China

Forests

Forests cover between 60 and 65 percent of Sweden’s

land Conifers constitute approximately 85 percent

of the 28 million hectares of forest, of which about

23 hectares are classified as productive forestland

Norway spruce is the predominant conifer, along

with Scots pine, which is located primarily in the

north Birch is the main deciduous species in Sweden

The majority of Sweden’s forest is privately owned by

families These family forests are relatively small,

usu-ally covering about 50 hectares of land area Private

companies and the government also own forests in

Sweden The forest owned by families or individuals

accounts for approximately 51 percent of Sweden’s

forest; the remaining 49 percent is divided almost

equally between private companies and the

govern-ment Sweden’s forests produce a wide variety of

prod-ucts, including sawed timber, pulp, paper, paperboard,

and veneer

Sweden’s forests have always been the country’s

most important resource for both domestic and

inter-national use The products of the forest industry

ac-count for 4 percent of Sweden’s GDP Domestically,

the forest industry has provided building materials

and a supply of fuel and employment, especially in

rural areas In 2005, the forest industry provided jobs

for approximately ninety-five thousand workers in

Sweden Biofuel has gained an increasing importance

in Sweden because of environmental concerns; the

residual, or by-products, of the timber harvest, along

with peat, are the major source of the country’s

bio-fuel Forests have always been a source of recreation

for Sweden’s population and play a significant role in

the tourist industry At the global level, forest industry

products make up 13 percent of the goods exported

by Sweden These exports account for 60 percent

of the products garnered from the forests In 2004,

Sweden was the fourth largest exporter of

conifer-ous sawed wood, the fifth largest exporter of wood

pulp, and the seventh largest exporter of paper and

paperboard Sweden’s exports of sawed timber to its

European neighbors, the United States, and Japan decreased in 2009 as a result of the reduction in con-struction of both residential and commercial build-ings in these countries However, exports of sawed timber to both the Middle East and Africa increased Sweden values its forests for both their economic and environmental importance During the nine-teenth century, much of the forest was clear-cut and devastated, but as early as 1903, Sweden enacted legis-lation to restore its forests and preserve this vital in-dustry In 1994, the Forestry Act of 1903 was revised to ensure that it gave equal importance to maintenance and regeneration of the forest and to the use of the forest for economic advantages In 1998, the Swedish timber industry, in association with the government, initiated research and development programs that required an investment of 480 million Swedish kro-nor The annual growth of forests continues to in-crease each year because of careful attention to the silviculture (the care and development of forests in order to obtain a product or provide a benefit) cycle

of the forests and programs for environmentally sound forest management Sweden is also addressing the is-sue of marketability of sawed timber and researching new products, such as composite and compressed-wood items In addition, the forest industry is produc-ing more customized products and buildproduc-ing large, high-technology sawmills

Hydropower Hydropower, the energy that comes from moving water, has been an important source of power for Swe-den throughout its history Although SweSwe-den has also used other sources of power at various times, hydropower has always played a significant role as a source of energy Until the nineteenth century, hydro-power and wood were the main sources of energy At that time, imported coal replaced much of the wood used for energy production As a result Sweden be-came reliant upon coal and hydropower as sources of energy In the early twentieth century, imported oil began to replace the coal, and in 1960, Sweden added nuclear power from imported uranium to its power base

However, hydropower remains a significant source

of energy for Sweden With an abundance of rivers and streams, especially in the north, and more than 100,000 lakes, Sweden has enormous hydropower po-tential Since the Middle Ages, Sweden has used small hydropower in the form of waterwheels to run mills

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and various types of machinery In the 1880’s, the first

hydropower stations that provided energy to

commu-nities and industries close to them were built Soon,

hundreds of these small power plants were operating

and supplying power throughout the country

How-ever 1900, Sweden began to develop a system of

large-scale hydropower

Once the technology for large electrical cables

was developed, Sweden’s hydropower system changed

dramatically The use of hydropower was no longer

limited to the immediate vicinity of the station It

could be transported long distances by large,

400-kilovolt lines This brought about the establishment

of large hydropower stations in the north, where the

major rivers are located The majority of these stations

were built in the 1950’s and 1960’s These power

stations provide energy throughout the country

Uti-lizing a network of cables, Sweden also participates

in the international exportation and importation of

electricity with its neighboring countries

Hydropower provides Sweden with an economical

and abundant source of energy that does relatively

lit-tle damage to the environment It produces no

green-house gases, and much of its ecological impact can be

controlled Hydropower stations are either

run-of-the-river or based on the use of dams In both cases, they can cause an inadequate supply of oxygen in the water; this is corrected by aeration Dams also impede the progress of fish, but fish ladders address this prob-lem There are still problems that arise from flooding areas to create dams and from interfering with the flow of rivers

Sweden is addressing these problems through its Sustainable Energy Act of 1997, acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol, and other environmental regulations The hydropower stations in Sweden are approxi-mately 50 percent owned by the state and 50 percent owned by private companies In 1998, Sweden passed the Environment Act, which regulates the licensing of hydropower stations Thus, Sweden is using the eco-nomical advantage of hydropower to promote indus-tries that are globally competitive and, at the same time, ecologically sound

Iron Ore Iron ore is composed of rocks and minerals; it varies

in color and may be yellow, gray, purple, or red Iron ore is assessed as high- or low-grade depending upon the amount of iron contained in it Iron ore must con-tain more than 54 percent iron to be classed as

high-An iron-ore mine in Sweden Iron is a major Swedish natural commodity (De Agostini/Getty Images)

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grade; any lesser amount classes it as low-grade Some

of the material other than iron must be removed from

the low-grade ore to make it marketable, while

high-grade ore is sold just as it is extracted It is sold as lump

ore or fine ore, depending upon its size Lump ore is

greater than 8 millimeters in diameter; fine ore is less

Iron ore is important in the steel-manufacturing

in-dustry It is used to make pig iron, which is then used

to produce steel

Mining of iron ore has been an important factor

in Sweden’s economy since the Middle Ages The

larg-est deposits of iron ore in Sweden are located in

the north, particularly in Swedish Lapland and near

Grängesberg Originally, iron-ore mining was done by

homesteaders who were both farmers and miners,

depending upon the season of the year Mining was

done as a cooperative community project and was a

local activity Eventually, the state and private

compa-nies became involved in mining on a much larger

scale Sweden became Europe’s largest exporter of

iron ore and remained so for more than two hundred

years The quantity of iron ore mined in the late

twen-tieth and early twentwen-tieth-first century decreased

Then in 2007, the production of iron ore increased

by 6.1 percent The two large state-owned mines, one

at Kiruna and the other at Malmberget, mined 79

per-cent of the iron ore produced As of 2009, eight

differ-ent projects for reopening mines and increasing iron

production were in final stages A number of foreign

companies were involved in these projects, both in

exploration and in plans for reopening the mines

Eu-ropean markets still account for approximately 68

per-cent of Sweden’s iron-ore exports North Africa and

the Middle East are also important export markets

Sweden is one of the top ten exporters of iron ore in

the world

Uranium

Uranium is a metallic element used to fuel nuclear

reactors that produce energy Sweden has the

larg-est uranium deposits that have been discovered in

Europe However, the uranium is low-grade, that is,

the concentration of the uranium averages only 136

grams per metric ton There was intensive

explora-tion for uranium from the 1960’s to the 1980’s, when

the government stopped all exploration for the metal

During the 1960’s, uranium was mined at Randstad

The mine produced 195 metric tons of uranium

dur-ing a four-year period of activity Sweden’s first

nu-clear reactor was built in 1964, and, as of 2009, ten

nuclear reactors supplied one-half of the country’s power requirements However, all uranium used in the reactors has been imported

Sweden has begun to explore its own uranium re-sources again with the intention of lessening its de-pendency on imported uranium In 2009, Sweden ranked among the countries that were conducting the most exploration for uranium Uranium mining is favored by the government, and major international mining companies are exploring for uranium in Swe-den While the Swedish government is in favor of min-ing for uranium, environmental considerations still play an important role in decisions to permit or not permit the establishment of uranium mines The final decision rests with the local municipal government where the mining is proposed

Copper Copper is a metal found both in a free state and com-bined with other metals in ores Copper is a good con-ductor of both heat and electricity It is used for mak-ing pipes, in electrical equipment, and in brass and bronze alloys Copper is mined at the Aitik Copper Mine located near Gällivare in northern Sweden Al-though the copper was discovered in the 1930’s, the mine was not opened until 1968, after the develop-ment of bulk-mining technology Aitik was the first open-pit low-grade copper mine opened in Europe With further development of technology the mine has increased the amount of ore it produces from 2 metric tons per year to 19 metric tons per year The proven reserves of ore at Aitik were 520 metric tons in

2006, and estimates indicated that there were an addi-tional 110 metric tons of probable copper reserves Other Resources

Sweden has a large variety of base metal and industrial mineral deposits In addition to copper there are eco-nomically significant deposits of lead, zinc, silver, gold, and nickel Chalk and limestone are two of the most important industrial minerals The Swedish govern-ment has encouraged exploration and has worked with both Swedish and foreign mining companies

to exploit new sites and to reopen some older mines that have been closed for many years New mining technology is making the reopening of several of these mines possible In 2007, the majority of the exploration and mining activities were in three dis-tricts, Skellefte, Norrbotten, and Bergslagen

Shawncey Webb

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Further Reading

Blennow, Kristina, ed Sustainable Forestry in Southern

Sweden: The SUFOR Research Project Binghamton,

N.Y.: Food Products Press, 2005

Field, Barry C Natural Resource Economics: An

Introduc-tion 2d ed Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press,

2008

Førsund, Finn R Hydropower Economics New York:

Springer, 2007

Moon, Charles, et al., eds Introduction to Mineral

Explo-ration 2d ed Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2006.

Sverdrup, Harald, and Ingrid Stjernquist, eds

De-veloping Principles and Models for Sustainable Forestry

in Sweden Boston: Kluwer Academic, 2002.

Whyte, James, and John Cummins Mining Explained:

Discovery, Extraction, Refining, Marketing, Investing.

9th ed Don Mills, Ont.: The Northern Miner, 2007

See also: Forest management; Forestry; Forests;

Hydroenergy; Iron; Limestone; Nobel, Alfred

Switzerland

Categories: Countries; government and resources

Switzerland’s primary resources are hydropower

poten-tial, timber, and salt With the exception of some export

of energy in the summer to neighboring countries,

Swit-zerland does not export any form of raw material, but it

is a significant exporter of merchandise and an

im-porter of raw materials from other countries

Switzer-land’s major merchandise exports include machinery,

chemicals, processed metals, agricultural products,

and watches.

The Country

Switzerland is a landlocked nation located in central

Europe, sharing its borders with five adjacent

coun-tries Switzerland is bordered by France to the north

and west, Germany to the north, Austria and

Liech-tenstein to the east, and Italy to the south Mountains

predominate in the Swiss landscape, with the Jura in

the northwest and the Alps in the south The center of

the country is a plateau, where there are hills, plains,

and a large number of lakes

Switzerland does not have an abundant variety of

natural resources and almost no mineral resources

Its primary commodities for export are machinery,

chemicals, metals, watches, and agricultural prod-ucts Its key natural resources are hydropower poten-tial from its numerous lakes, forests, and salt Raw materials account for approximately 28 percent of Switzerland’s imports Switzerland’s major trading partners are Germany, Italy, France, and Austria The United States and the United Kingdom are also im-portant trading partners with Switzerland

Although Switzerland lacks a vast quantity of varied resources, it is an important factor in the global econ-omy, particularly because of its banking and financial services industry Switzerland ranks forty-first in pur-chasing power parity and second in competitiveness

in the global economy It is the thirteenth richest country in the world based on gross domestic product per capita

Hydropower Hydropower is Switzerland’s most abundant natural resource and plays an important role in the country as the major source of electricity Fifty-eight percent of the country’s electricity is generated from this source Hydropower coincides with Switzerland’s energy pol-icy, which is based on the use of renewable resources and targets efficiency in production and usage Reli-ance on hydropower for the production of energy is compatible with Switzerland’s goal of reducing car-bon dioxide (CO2) emissions It planned to bring

1990 carbon dioxide emissions levels to 90 percent by

2010 Hydropower produces no carbon dioxide Switzerland has three different means of produc-ing hydropower There are mountain stations, run-of-the-river stations, and pumped storage stations All of these stations have systems that rely on energy from dammed water, which is used to drive turbines and generators The mountain stations are supplied by large reservoirs of water that are made by building dams These stations supply one-third of the electric-ity used The run-of-the-river stations are the source of

an additional one-fourth of Switzerland’s electricity These stations are equipped with large turbines pow-ered by the natural flow of the river’s water, but they are not adequate to meet the electricity needs during periods of high demand

The pumped storage stations use a system of paired reservoirs to supply energy These reservoirs are placed

at different elevation levels During periods of low demand for electricity, the available unused electric-ity powers pumps the transfer water from the lower reservoir to the higher elevated reservoir It is stored

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Switzerland: Resources at a Glance

Official name: Swiss Confederation Government: Confederation, structurally similar to

a federal republic

Capital city: Bern Area: 15,938 mi2; 41,277 km2

Population (2009 est.): 7,604,467 Language: German, French, Italian, and

Romansch

Monetary unit: Swiss franc (CHF)

Economic summary:

GDP composition by sector (2003 est.): agriculture, 1.5%; industry, 34%; services, 64.5%

Natural resources: hydropower potential, timber, salt

Land use (2005): arable land, 9.91%; permanent crops, 0.58%; other, 89.51%

Industries: machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments, tourism, banking and insurance

Agricultural products: grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs

Exports (2008 est.): $233.1 billion

Commodities exported: machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products

Imports (2008 est.): $213 billion

Commodities imported: machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals, agricultural products, textiles

Labor force (2008 est.): 4.053 million

Labor force by occupation (2005): agriculture, 3.9%; industry, 22.8%; services, 73.2%

Energy resources:

Electricity production (2007 est.): 64.56 billion kWh

Electricity consumption (2006 est.): 58.77 billion kWh

Electricity exports (2007 est.): 50.2 billion kWh

Electricity imports (2007 est.): 48.4 billion kWh

Natural gas production (2007 est.): 0 m3

Natural gas consumption (2007 est.): 3.232 billion m3

Natural gas exports (2007 est.): 0 m3

Natural gas imports (2007 est.): 3.232 billion m3

Natural gas proved reserves ( Jan 2006 est.): 0 m3

Oil production (2007 est.): 3,202 bbl/day Oil imports (2005): 274,900 bbl/day Oil proved reserves: N/A

Source: Data from The World Factbook 2009 Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009.

Notes: Data are the most recent tracked by the CIA Values are given in U.S dollars Abbreviations: bbl/day = barrels per day;

Italy

Germany

France

Liechtenstein

Switzerland

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there for later use During periods of high demand

for electricity, this water is released back into the

lower reservoir by flowing through a turbine,

produc-ing electricity The pumped storage stations are thus

able to supply a flexible source of electric power The

cost of generating electricity varies by the location

and the type of station Run-of-the-river plants tend to

be more expensive to operate than the storage type

While hydropower is a clean, renewable, and

envi-ronmentally friendly source of energy from the

view-point of air pollution, it does have other

detrimen-tal effects on the environment The large reservoirs

needed at the mountain stations and the pumped

storage stations remove considerable land areas from

other uses and decimate the flora and fauna of the

flooded land In addition, as the water-covered plants

and vegetation decay, the possibility of methane

pro-duction exists, although, given Switzerland’s cool

cli-mate, this is not a major concern The dams used to

di-rect water into the reservoirs also have an adverse

effect on the rivers as they change the natural water

flow Because of the lack of sediment contained in

water that flows from the stations, there is a potential

danger of loss of riverbanks Dams impact fish

popula-tions as well Unless fish ladders are provided, fish are

unable to cross over the dams Water from

hydro-power stations is usually considerably warmer than

naturally flowing water and can have adverse effects

on specific fish populations

In comparison with other countries, Switzerland

has a rather high consumption of electricity on a

per-capita basis Switzerland’s use of electricity exceeds

that of its neighboring European Union countries

Therefore, although the country not only meets its

power needs but also exports electricity in the

sum-mer, in the winter, it must import electricity

Switzer-land ranks fortieth in the world in production of

elec-tricity and fortieth in consumption

Switzerland has used nuclear energy to

supple-ment its hydropower-generated electricity and to

sup-ply the additional 38 percent that it requires to meet

its power needs In 2005, there were five nuclear

power stations in Switzerland However, plans to use

more nuclear energy were stalled by the problems

presented by the necessity for long-term disposal of

the waste generated

Switzerland has also examined other natural

en-ergy sources, including the Sun, the wind, and deep

heat mining Little development has been

under-taken in solar and wind energy These types of

electric-ity generation have remained below 4 percent of the power generated Some exploration of deep heat mining has been carried out This technique requires drilling into the Earth some 5 kilometers Then, hot water is forced to the surface and used to drive energy-producing turbines This process caused considerable Earth tremors and was abandoned It also occasioned fear of the possibility of eventually causing actual earthquakes Consequently, hydropower remains the preferred and primary power source in Switzerland Switzerland tends to rely upon different types of hydropower plants at different times When the power load required is low or medium, run-of-the-river plants supplemented by nuclear power plants are primarily used During periods of high energy need, the pumped storage plants are the main ones utilized

Forests Forests cover approximately 31 percent of Switzer-land’s land area The woodlands are spread through-out the country and provide many benefits, including acting as windbreaks, reducing flooding, and combat-ing air pollution The forests also provide an impor-tant stabilization of both soil and snow cover Switzer-land has both deciduous and coniferous forests The deciduous forests, which are primarily composed of beech and oak, grow at the low altitudes, while the coniferous species, such as pine and spruce, are found

at high altitudes Switzerland also has some chestnut trees, which grow primarily in the area south of the Alps A unique aspect of Switzerland’s woodlands is its three virgin forests, that is, forests which have experi-enced no human intervention The three forests are Bödomeren, Derborence, and Scatlé Bödomeren and Scatlé are spruce forests, and Derborence is a forest heavily populated with silver fir All three of these woodlands are situated on steep slopes, making them difficult to access Switzerland’s forests have suffered extensively from air pollution, with damage resulting

to almost 35 percent of the trees Switzerland also faces other problems in regard to the sustainability of its forests The country’s woodland is unbalanced in regard to ages of trees There is too much aged forest

in proportion to the amount of young forest in the country

Timber harvest is important to the domestic econ-omy and lifestyle of Switzerland In 2006, the harvest

of wood amounted to 5.1 million cubic meters of tim-ber The harvested timber is used for sawed lumber

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and paper It is primarily used domestically, as

Switzer-land is not a significant exporter of timber or wood

products Wood is the main construction material

used in Switzerland to build both residential and

com-mercial buildings While the country does not export

its timber, Swiss architects and engineers have

devel-oped innovative uses of wood and wood products in

the construction of buildings that have benefited

many nations worldwide (especially underdeveloped

countries, where Swiss construction experts have been

involved in international building projects)

Salt

Switzerland has only one working salt mine, Le

Bouillet It is located 9 kilometers south of Bex in the

canton of Vaud The existence of salt in the area was

discovered by Maxim Roche when he drank from a

spring that had a saline taste Mining of the

subterra-nean deposits of salt began in 1684 and continues to

the present day Salt deposits occur deep in the Earth

Salt is mined by making deep shafts into the Earth,

ex-tracting the salt from the rock, and transporting it to

the surface The mine is 50 kilometers in length and is

composed of a labyrinth of tunnels, halls, pits, and

stairs The mine produces salt primarily for domestic

consumption Some naturally occurring brine salts

are produced in Switzerland

Le Bouillet contributes to the Swiss economy as a

salt-producing mine that provides jobs and an

impor-tant commodity, and also as a tourist attraction A

sec-tion of the mine is open to the public for tours This

salt mine near Bex is one of the region’s main

attrac-tions and draws a large number of tourists each year

Visitors are able to discover the techniques used to

mine salt from the mine’s earliest operation to the

present day In 1684, when mining was first

under-taken, miners worked long hours with primitive tools;

the process of extracting the salt was dangerous and

physically difficult Modern methods offer a sharp

contrast and are an example of the benefits derived

from mechanization

Ecological Resources

While Switzerland has almost no natural resources

that are either physically exportable and or important

parts of the global resources from which energy is

ob-tained and usable items are produced, the country

has made unique use of what natural resources it has

Switzerland has developed a globally important sector

of its economy in the field of service Tourism, along

with consulting and insurance, are included in the list of services provided by Switzerland With its two mountain ranges, the Alps and the Jura, Switzerland offers hiking, mountain climbing, and skiing Its lakes and rivers provide fishing and water sports, and its for-ests, additional hiking, nature study, and hunting

In 2001, tourism by foreigners ranked third in ex-port income for the country In terms of exex-port reve-nue, the metal and machinery industry ranked first, and the chemical industry ranked second Tourism brought in a greater export revenue than did either the watchmaking or the textile industries Tourism plays a vital role in the Swiss economy, with between 8 and 9 percent of the Swiss workforce employed di-rectly or indidi-rectly in tourism One in every twelve Swiss citizens is employed in some aspect of the indus-try By regions, the number of people employed in tourism is highest in the mountainous areas, where al-pine sports and activities create a large tourist indus-try Spending by foreign visitors in Switzerland in-creases the GDP by approximately 3 percent Many sectors of the Swiss economy, such as hospitality and transportation businesses, are highly dependent or partially reliant upon tourism Many of the retail sec-tors also rely on the tourist industry Tourists involved

in various sports purchase a significant amount of equipment once they arrive in the country

Other Resources Switzerland has almost no mineral resources There are small, virtually insignificant deposits of iron and manganese in the Jura Switzerland has a large de-posit of marble located in the Jura Other natural re-sources in Switzerland include sand, gravel, and lime-stone

Switzerland produces a variety of agricultural prod-ucts, including fruits, vegetables (especially potatoes), wheat, meat, dairy products (such as cheese), and wines Manufactured products for which Switzerland

is known include watches, clocks, machinery, pharma-ceuticals, and precison tools In addition to tourism, Switzerland’s service economy is focused on financial services that attract international corporations seek-ing to benefit from favorable Swiss bankseek-ing regula-tions

Shawncey Webb

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