📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
-
💼 What the programme involves
Together with the forestry and conservation specialists of the Alb-Donau district, your tasks will be to take care of and restore a wetland area (ponds and streams), to take care of a juniper heath and some neglected grassland at Mochental. You’ll cut the ponds free, repair the dam and move the rapidly growing climbing plants away from the pond, so that many different species of plants and animals can grow there once more. There were juniper heaths in this area in the past, due to sheep and goats grazing, and as the biotope with the largest number of different species in central Europe, they are heavily protected by conservationists. They are in danger of growing more forest-like again. In this area, you will be moving prickly shrubs and trees in order to create more space and light for the rare plants, insects and birds who are already living there. You will be coached by a forest ranger, a forestry master and some apprentices.
🏠 Accommodation on site
You will be sleeping on camp beds in a group room on the grounds of the Mochental Castle. There is a separate living space with kitchen. You’ll cook your own meals together.
📍 About the location
You’ll be living in a remote location, and can sit around a camp fire during the evening. In the surrounding area (up to 35km away), there are companies in the Swabian Alp biosphere region, the Bierkulturstadt Ehingen, the Laichinger caverns and high ropes course, canoes on the Großen Lauter lake, the outdoor museum in Kürnbach and the river Ulm with the world-renowned city of Münster. More further afield (up to 150km) are Bodensee, Stuttgart, Augsburg and the bear cave at Lichtenstein.
⚠️ Requirements
You should be able to ride a bike and be prepared for physically demanding work.
ℹ️ Additional information
You’ll be living in a remote location around 10km southwest of Ehingen (Donau). The nearest train station is 5km away by bike. There is no W-LAN, only a weak connection through mobile network reception.