Mountain forest project
| Mountain forest project | |
|---|---|
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| purpose | Protection, conservation and care of the forest through volunteer work |
| Chair: | Martin Kreilinger (Managing Director Switzerland) and Stephen Wehner (Board Member Germany) |
| Establishment date: | 1987 |
| Number of members: | approx. 2,500 sponsors |
| Seat : | Trin GR (seat of the Swiss foundation) and Würzburg |
| Website: | https://www.bergwaldprojekt.de |
The mountain forest project is a multinational environmental and nature conservation organization that works with volunteers in forest ecosystems .
history
The mountain forest project was founded in 1987 by the Swiss forester Renato Ruf and the German Greenpeace employee Wolfgang Lohbeck in Switzerland. The first deployment took place in Malans in the canton of Graubünden . Initially, the project received organizational and financial support from WWF and Greenpeace. In 1990 the two organizations released the initiative into self-employment. In Switzerland, the organization takes the form of a non-profit foundation under the supervision of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. The German association was founded in 1993 to independently finance and implement projects that have been ongoing in Germany since 1991. The first deployment took place in Austria in 1994 and in 2004 in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Since 2007 there have also been several deployment weeks a year in Catalonia . From 2006 to 2015, several one-week projects took place in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine .
Working method
The organization carries out one-week work assignments for forest laypeople in Switzerland , Austria , Liechtenstein , Germany and Catalonia from January to December . The locations range from the mountain forest of the Alps and Pyrenees and over low mountain ranges such as the Black Forest , Rhön and Harz to the island forest of Amrum and coastal forests on the Baltic Sea. The organization only works in public forests or on areas that belong to non-profit organizations or, as in Germany, belong to the national natural heritage .
The varied work during a project week can include, for example: forest care, young growth care, construction of access paths (climbing), reforestation of protective forest , measures to protect against game browsing, fence construction, construction of tripods, erosion barriers, landscape and biotope care and peatland restoration. In the last few years, project assignments in Germany have also increasingly focused on forest conversion . The work carried out is usually economically unprofitable for forest service providers due to the geographical location or the type of work (high proportion of manual labor), so that the work does not lead to any displacement effect.
In addition to the work, interesting facts about the forest ecosystem are imparted. A forest-related excursion is part of every project week.
More than 50,000 volunteers have worked on projects since 1987 (as of the end of 2017). The participating women and men from all ages (from 18 years of age) and professions pay for travel to and from the project location and insurance themselves. The organization provides accommodation, food, and professional support and guidance during the week of deployment.
The mountain forest project is also increasingly being used as a partner for non-profit employee engagement ( corporate volunteering ) by companies who, for example, want to attract their employees to social engagement through additional free days or are looking for a meaningful team effort.
In both Germany and Switzerland, the mountain forest project also offers forest school weeks for school classes who work with their teachers for a week in the forest - also here under the instruction and supervision of the foresters employed by the mountain forest project. In addition, the call for inclusion through joint work with people with disabilities is realized in Germany with special project weeks . In Switzerland and Germany, there is also cooperation with refugees as part of the integration process.
organization
The project is organized as a foundation in Switzerland, as an independent association in Germany and Spain and under the umbrella of the Austrian Alpine Association in Austria . The project is financed on the one hand by private donations (2018 in Germany: 5%) and in Germany by sponsoring members (2018: 7%). In 2018, the German association generated 62% of sales revenues from the income from project assignments. In addition, the German association is supported by Deutsche Bahn and its bahn.bonus program (2018: 3.4% or 55,170 euros).
Road construction
Handholzen
plants
Three-legged goats
Web links
- Bergwaldprojekt eV (Germany)
- Projecte Boscos de Muntanya (Mountain Forest Project Catalonia)
- Mountain forest project at the Austrian Alpine Association
- Mountain Forest Project Foundation (Switzerland)
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.bergwaldprojekt.de/ueber-uns/transparenz
- ↑ http://www.bahn.de/p/view/bahncard/bahnbonus/bergwaldprojekt.shtml
- ↑ Bergwaldprojekt Annual Report 2018. Bergwaldprojekt eV, accessed on January 2, 2020 .