Rebuilding Biodiversity One Stone at a Time: Ecology and Intangible Heritage in Dry Stone Walling Practices

This article presents a reflection on the adaptability of an age-old practice, dry stone walling, to address the loss of biodiversity precipitated by locally changing agricultural practices and a globally changing climate. The ‘Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques’, inscribed in 2018 on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, involves building walls with locally sourced stones without the use of mortar. On relatively homogeneous agricultural land, walls offer precious surfaces, nooks and crannies, for plants and animals to grow on, nest in or move along from one patch of woods to the next. With a focus on practices in Switzerland, the article explores how a new awareness of the ecological potential of dry stone walls is shaping the craft and the composition of the communities of practice that have developed around them.