The Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments in Switzerland aims to protect landscapes of national importance. The inventory is part of a 1977 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage.
The sites are of three types:
The inventory currently includes approx. 160 sites (1977: initially 65 sites, 1983: +55, 1996: +33, 1998: +9) covering 7806 km² (approximately 20 percent of Switzerland).