An eventful weekend of voting lies behind us. While topics such as health, tenancy law and motorway expansion dominated the headlines at national level, the mountain bike community looked to the canton of Zug with excitement. There, a vote was held on the revision of the cantonal forest law. But how did this even come about?
The revised Forest Act stipulates that in future, biking in the forest will only be permitted on paved forest roads and on bike routes defined in the structure plan. The problem is that the aforementioned structure plan only exists as a draft so far. For this reason, IG MTB Zug, together with Swiss Cycling and various Zug cycling clubs, launched a referendum against the new Forest Act in spring 2024.
The structure plan was developed in parallel with the drafting of the Forest Act, and IG MTB Zug was initially satisfied with its involvement in the planning process. However, with the publication of the draft structure plan in September last year, it became clear how strongly the ideas about an attractive route network diverged. This made it clear that the Forest Act could not be approved as long as the bike routes were not clearly defined and adapted to the needs of bikers.
The supporters of the revised Forest Act argued that the current structure plan already provides for 300 kilometres of bike routes – enough in their view. However, what they failed to mention was that Around 90% of this route network consists of paved forest roads, which are not very attractive for mountain bikers.
Unfortunately, the vote could not be won: The new Forest Act was adopted with 73% votes in favour.
Nevertheless, there are also positive aspects: It succeeded in making the needs of bikers visible beyond the community. After all, 27% of the population recognised that mountain bikers deserve fair consideration. The focus is now on further developing the structure plan and defining an attractive and diverse route network.
In its campaign, IG MTB Zug has shown that it is a reliable and competent dialogue partner that can effectively represent the interests of mountain bikers. Now the Zug government must prove that the needs of mountain bikers are actually taken into account in the future structure plan. With 270 kilometres of forest road, this will certainly not be enough.
What does the example from Zug show us?
Maintaining the status quo is not an option. Our environment is changing and mountain bikers must actively defend their space in nature.
When drafting laws and spatial planning principles, it is essential to incorporate the needs of mountain bikers comprehensively and at an early stage. Canton-wide MTB organisations must be involved in these processes as competent and reliable partners. It is not enough for them to merely comment on the final results of the work in echo groups or project groups.
MTB organisations must be actively involved in development – from network planning to structure plans and legislation. The necessary resources and competences must be ensured for this.
In order for these organisations to be the legitimate representatives of mountain bikers, it is crucial that each and every individual becomes a member of an MTB organisation that is committed to improving the MTB infrastructure.
Thanks and outlook
Our sincere thanks go to the board of IG MTB Zug, all member clubs and the bikers for their great commitment over the past few months to promoting a needs-based MTB infrastructure.
We look to the future with confidence. In other cantons of Central Switzerland, there is a positive trend: the path towards the coexistence of nature utilisation and nature conservation. Let’s not lose heart and continue to work together towards our goal:
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