Polo Hofer is the ninth #Woodvetia statue

#Woodvetia, the joint campaign of the Federal Office for the Environment and the Swiss forestry and timber industry, aims to get the population excited about the sustainable raw material Swiss timber. The reason for the campaign is the declining demand for Swiss wood, which is having a negative impact on the forestry industry and the forest itself.

The core of #Woodvetia is formed by lifelike and life-size statues of well-known personalities from Swiss history and the present, which the Zurich artist Inigo Gheyselinck carves from Swiss wood. The wood he uses is always sourced from the regions from which the depicted personalities originate.

Polo on the Blüemlisalp

On Tuesday, May 16, 2017, Thomas Lädrach, President of Holzindustrie Schweiz, and Roger Schmidt, Head of the Forestry Office of the Canton of Bern, will already present the 9th #Woodvetia figurine in Oberhofen on Lake Thun. The statue, made from a silver fir from Interlaken, depicts Polo Hofer, the legendary artist and father of Swiss dialect rock. His wooden figure will be unveiled by Hofer himself at 12:00 noon on the jetty. Afterwards, the statue will be installed on the course ship "Blüemlisalp" - as a reference to the place of action in Polo Hofer's mega hit "Alperose". On the "Blüemlisalp" it can be admired by passengers until this fall.

Polo Hofer is delighted about the statue: "This is a great honor and a fantastic feeling. I am carved from the right wood - a Bernese silver fir! The campaign is a good thing and I like the figure very much. Inigo Gheyselinck did a fantastic job!" Hofer has a close relationship with wood, he says: "I practically grew up surrounded by Swiss wood, namely in the forest. So I'm actually a jungle kid. Even as a seven-year-old boy scout, I spent entire weekends in the forest."

Read more about the #Woodvetia campaign in Advertising Week 8/2017, May 5, 2017.