River Pearl PLUS

The ‘Rivers Oscar’ goes to the Brancla

The Brancla was nominated as a “River Pearl PLUS”, receiving the stone trophy on 22 August 2024. In awarding the honour, the River Pearls Aassociation and the WWF have paid tribute to the municipalities of Scuol and Valsot for the wild and free-flowing Brancla.

Today the municipalities of Scuol and Valsot in the Sinestra Valley were honoured to receive from the River Pearls Association and the WWF a sculpture made of stone from the Brancla. It marks the commitment of the municipalities of Scuol and Valsot to the conservation of the Brancla, a wild and free-flowing mountain stream.

Ceremony on the banks of the rushing stream

Standing on the banks of the Brancla, Fadri Guidon of the River Pearls Association and Anita Mazzetta, CEO of WWF GraubĂźnden, presented the sculpture to Aita Zanetti, mayor of Scuol, and Fadri Riatsch, deputy mayor of Valsot.

Flowing between the municipalities of Scuol and Valsot, the wild Brancla stream winds its way through the Sinestra Valley in two stages down to the Inn. With deep gorges and a floodplain landscape of national significance at the mouth of the Inn, the valley offers a spectacular variety of scenery. The Brancla and its lateral tributaries are very diverse and still completely natural today – an absolute rarity in densely populated Switzerland. The Brancla and its estuary are home to rare animal and plant species such as stoneflies, common toads, sandpipers and even wallcreepers. A hotspot for biodiversity, it is a watercourse to be rightly proud of!

The Engadiner Post reported on the ceremony: Link to article