Nature Lovers - Forest of Jena

CODE: VJF/6.4

Work:

In the first week, you will work with local foresters in the wood of Jena. Your tasks will include various environmental works, e.g., maintaining footpaths, lookout points and shelters. Your help will be needed for different nature protection projects. Please be prepared for environmental works to help the rangers only outside.
In the second week, the volunteers will help the environmental organisation “Fuchsturmgesellschaft” to chop down trees for better visibility and let a bright landscape appear on the way leading to the tower and maintenance work in the flora-fauna habitat. Your help will be needed in the Education Path; also, huts need renovation or maintenance.
This is a camp for nature lovers! Work can be physically challenging at times. The work can also change depending on the needs of the foresters.

Accomodation and food

Volunteers will be accommodated in an isolated hostel on a hill in the western part of Jena. The Schullandheim Jenaer Stern is an educational centre in the middle of the forest. Each room has 4-6 beds, and your only neighbours will be the woodland animals. All bed linen will be provided. We have the chance to have campfires, play ping-pong and volleyball, go swimming and so on. A washing machine is available. There will be no internet access in the accommodation.
Please respect that you may share the space with children and act accordingly.

Food
Full board, you will get the possibility to cook traditional meals occasionally. Please be prepared for typical, mostly vegetarian German food, which includes a lot of bread. You will have cold breakfast and german supper, meaning Abendbrot and a warm meal for lunch. The Stern has a thorough sustainability plan—there will be very little meat.

Location and leisure

The city of Jena and its surroundings present many good opportunities for recreation and relaxing. Please notice that Jena city is not well connected with your accommodation.
Feel free to bring things with you to enjoy games / sports and outdoor activities. The hostel has several sports courts. We can go hiking and have cycling tours in this beautiful area. We can also make trips to other cities; for example, we can travel to Weimar, which is well known as the workplace of the poets Goethe and Schiller and the Bauhaus. You’ll be able to learn more about history, as we could visit the former concentration camp Buchenwald. The student city of Jena offers many cultural possibilities to explore. Free-time activities will mainly depend on your ideas and wishes.

Project hosted by

The project partners will be the foresters of Jena and a local environment organisation, the "Fuchsturmgesellschaft" . The Jena Forest nature reservation is close to the city of Jena, in the federal state of Thüringen - the "green heart of Germany" - and is an important refuge for various bat species, endangered bird species, and insects that are native to the forest. Jena with about 100.000 inhabitants, is the 2nd biggest city in Thüringen and is situated on the banks of the river Saale, surrounded by white and grey calcite mountains in the eastern part of Thüringen. Jena is famous for the high-tech Zeiss Optical Instruments, the Schiller University and the Zeiss-Planetarium, which is the oldest continuously operating planetarium in the world.

Directions to meeting point

Wherever you arrive in Germany, you must reach the railway station Jena-Paradies. There are good train and bus connections within Germany. Get off at Jena-Paradies and go out the main exit.
Useful site for travelling in Germany: www.bahn.de, www.flixbus.de
There will be a whats app group, so you can coordinate your arrival in groups.
There is a hick to get to the schullandheim Stern! Do not forget a water bottle.
The way is a hiking trail with a steep ascent in the end. We suggest carrying a rucksack (backpack).

Additional comments

Nature lovers camp