00:01The mountains are crumbling away, glaciers are breaking apart, and rockslides are burying entire villages.
00:11In the Alps, places that were considered safe for decades are now in danger.
00:20It isn't easy, because this is our home, these are our roots.
00:24When should people be evacuated? You can see there's a problem, but maybe it won't be for another five years.
00:32To move away or to stay? In Switzerland, this is a question nobody wants to talk about. But why?
00:40In 2025, a glacier collapsed in the Lüchenthal Valley, leaving the Swiss village of Blätten almost completely buried and flooded.
00:50The 300 residents were evacuated in time. Only one life was lost, but the village could not be saved.
00:59Just 20 kilometres from Blätten lies the town of Sankt Niklaus, also surrounded by mountains.
01:06But new construction goes on as normal. Companies are investing in Sankt Niklaus, and new apartments are being built.
01:14Life goes on, yet here too the mountains pose a threat.
01:20Andreas Katna has experienced this new reality first-hand.
01:24In winter, a piece of the mountain broke off. Most of the debris landed on the neighbouring sports field.
01:33One piece, however, cleared the railway tracks at the property line and landed on his in-laws' house.
01:39Fortunately, it was unoccupied, unlike the houses in the surrounding area.
01:47Due to this massive boulder, there was nothing more that could be done for the house.
01:53The people of Valais live in constant fear of landslides. The people could no longer ignore the power of nature.
02:01If nothing happens for a long time, it gets forgotten. In that sense, it's good when an event like this
02:07happens every now and then.
02:10It reminds us that nature is more powerful than humans.
02:19Peaks reaching 4,500 metres reign over Sankt Niklaus and its narrow, steep valley.
02:25The mountain slopes consist of jagged rocks, crumbling material that could slide a thousand metres down into the valley.
02:33The landslides are being documented and studied.
02:37For 20 years, geoscientists have been surveying the steep slopes.
02:42Time-lapse photography captures how they are constantly in motion.
02:46The reason for this lies higher up in what are known as blocked glaciers,
02:50sheets of ice and rubble at an altitude of 3,000 metres.
02:55Rising temperatures are causing them to thaw, releasing the debris to tumble down into the valley.
03:00But what does this mean for the residents below?
03:04Should settlements now be relocated? Should the population retreat?
03:08This is a question for policymakers.
03:11But as Brigitte Wolf from the Green Party explains, climate change remains a sensitive issue for politicians.
03:19The first problem is simply acknowledging it.
03:23And there are still political groups, parties that would rather not face this reality,
03:27would rather not say, yes, this is climate change, and would rather put it off a little longer.
03:35When it comes to the village of Blattin, the goal is clear.
03:39Reconstruction, whatever the cost.
03:41The mayor of this village of 300 has secured hundreds of millions of francs from the Swiss government for that
03:47purpose.
03:48The key message is this, we can no longer bring back the old Blattin.
03:53What we want to do is build a new Blattin.
03:57Defying nature is something everyone in Switzerland seems to agree on, even in government.
04:04We also have a duty to make it possible for you to live in the Lütschenthal again, just as you're
04:10used to.
04:12After all, for most people in Switzerland, there is no greater good than the right to one's hometown,
04:18which is why the new Blattin is to be rebuilt in just five years.
04:22Meanwhile, officials in the municipality of Sankt Niklaus are investing in massive retention areas.
04:28These are designed to stop all the debris that the increase in avalanches and rockfalls will rain down in the
04:34future.
04:35We have a capacity here of about 15,000 to 20,000 cubic meters, up to the top edge.
04:44It would take three or four days to haul all that material away.
04:49That means working non-stop until all the material is removed.
04:57The topic of relocating is especially taboo in valleys where the economy and industry continue to grow.
05:03After all, it was only through engineering prowess and significant financial investments
05:08that Switzerland was able to make these steep mountain regions habitable in the first place.
05:13Brigitte Wolf is sad that Swiss politicians can't easily change these norms.
05:18Change is always difficult for society to accept.
05:22Leaving your home is a change that nobody wants.
05:24And a politician who says, now we have to ban everything, change everything, is committing political suicide.
05:32Andreas Katner doesn't see listening to nature and facing the unpleasant consequences as something taboo.
05:39That's why he wants to tear down what's left of the house and leave the property undeveloped.
05:48The day may still come when we have to say, time to go.
05:53That's not easy because this is our home.
05:55These are our roots.
05:58And our roots go deep.
06:00We've just seen what happened with the landslide in Blattin.
06:04It's terrible when you lose everything or have to leave it behind because of danger from the mountains above.
06:14Katner knows that fighting nature's forces is ultimately futile.
06:18But he remains in the minority in Switzerland and not just in Sankt Niklaus.
06:28Now we have to continue to talk about this.
06:30I can take a look at this.
06:30It's an open eye to the forest.
06:30The forest is found in the forest.
