Ecology and Intangible Heritage in Dry Stone Walling Practices

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 data relates to new awareness of the ecological potential of dry stone walls is shaping the craft.
Funding for this research was provided by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme (grant agreement No. 101022703, project title ARPED - Artisan pedagogies: investigating craft experts as educators.)