Workcamp on Tour! - Protect Biodiversity!

CODE: ijgd 25327

Work:

The countless species of plants and animals, as well as different habitats, are unique on our planet; in Germany alone there are around 70,000 different animals, plants and microorganisms. This biodiversity forms the basis of all life, but nature is increasingly under threat. This camp is about the protection of meadow birds, some of which are threatened with extinction. You will work thematically, practically and creatively with experienced staff from various biological stations to protect them. We start in Zwillbrock, right on the Dutch border. You will be there for the first week, working and learning a lot about their work at the Biological Station and about the protection of meadow birds. On the first day, you will help in a protected area and remove shrubs and birch so that the area is free for meadow birds again. You will cycle the 4 km to the reserve. Day 2 offers a circular walk and you get to know different birds and learn to identify them. Afterwards, the two days serve as a practical and creative day for a sustainable meadow bird conservation project. After the week, you move on to the next project area. After you have settled into your new accommodation and explored the surrounding area on Sunday, the project continues on Monday with the other organic stations. Here, too, everything revolves around the protection of meadow birds. In the second project, your work is primarily practical. You will help to optimize the breeding sites of endangered meadow birds, which are mainly located near bodies of water. So you'll head off into shallow water and onto small gravel islands in your rubber boots to pull out willow seedlings and create gathering and resting places for animals. In the second project, you will also learn a lot about the work of the Bio Stations and this conservation project from their employees.

Accomodation and food

In this camp you are in two different places! Also important for your arrival and departure. The first week you will be accommodated in the brand new guest house of Biologische Zwillbrock e.V.. There are shared rooms, plenty of bathrooms and a self-catering kitchen with a dining area. There is also a terrace and the opportunity to barbecue. On Saturday, you will then move to the beautiful half-timbered town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück. There you will be accommodated in the guest house of the Wiedenbrück monastery. In shared rooms and with your own kitchen and sufficient sanitary facilities, you can also sit in the courtyard. You are right in the center of Wiedenbrück.
You must bring slippers! We charge all participants a deposit of 20,-€ for the accommodation, which we collect on site and which you get back when the accommodation is handed over properly.
You cook together. You will be provided with money for shopping. Vegetarian or vegan meals are possible. Please indicate any intolerances when registering.

Location and leisure

This workcamp offers you the opportunity to get to know two different regions. In the first week, you will be right on the Dutch border. Here you live in a very rural area, the nearest town is 10 km away. However, you will be provided with bicycles, which will take you on a discovery tour of the Netherlands in the direction of Winterwiek on Wednesday of the first week. You get to know a typical Dutch community with a weekly market and Kramermarkt and head to the Meddosee beach club. In the beautiful half-timbered town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, you are accommodated in the center of Wiedenbrück with stores, cafes and bars. The outdoor pool is nearby, and you can barbecue, chill out, play table tennis or go on excursions to the university towns of Münster, Bielefeld or Paderborn.

Project hosted by

The ijgd has been organising volunteer service programmes since 1949. We are an independent, non-profit association for international youth work, a recognised independent youth welfare organisation, and one of the largest and oldest workcamp organisations in Germany. Each year, we assist around 5,000 young people into volunteer work in Germany and abroad. We give them the opportunity to be creative, act in solidarity, take responsibility for themselves, and discover their own true potential and strengths. Our principles: Ecological learning, voluntary contribution, self-organisation, social development, intercultural learning, gender equality, anti-racism/anti-discrimination and political education.
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Directions to meeting point

You will receive more information after your confirming registration with the specigic infosheet for your project.

Additional comments

In this camp you will live near the Dutch border for the first week and work together with the Biological Station Zwillbrock e.V. and then you will move to Rheda-Wiedenbrück for the second week and live and work there with the Biostations Paderborn, Gütersloh, Bielefeld and Soest.