Recreation, education and wellbeing: The community-led Nature Park in Feldkirch, Austria

Feldkirch (about 33,000 inhabitants) in western Austria is a very scenic area. One of its attractions is a Nature Park which was set up by local residents in 1963 on the Ardetzenberg (Mount Ardetzen), close to Feldkirch. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength, increasing the range of its offerings to a rising number of visitors of all ages and walks of life.

Hier können Sie die Fallstudie auf Deutsch lesen (download the German version).

The objectives of Feldkirch Nature Park were to bring local animals, including endangered species, close to local residents and to educate children and young people about local wildlife. 

Animals

There are now 18 animals living in the nature park, each in their own fenced-off animal run, including (among others) red deer, wild boar, wolves, foxes, goats, marmots, raccoons, blue hares, eagles and eagle owls.

Not all the animals are local, as was originally intended. For example, the raccoon is from America. However, sometimes the Nature Park takes over animals from zoos which are no longer able to keep them. It also sometimes serves as a ‘hospital’ for animals that need special care - for example, two eagles have now been given a home, after being found injured, since they could not have survived free in nature.

Visitors

The Nature Park now has about 150,000 visitors per year. Most visitors greatly appreciate the Park and value their visits, whether for education or leisure purposes. Consequently, the Nature Park has become an important local recreation facility in the local authority of Feldkirch and an important tourist destination in the region of Vorarlberg. The largest group of visitors is made up of children visiting the Park in a school or Kindergarten excursion – consequently, the Nature Park has become an important education centre.

Education

The idea of the Nature Park is not to educate visitors through giving them lots of abstract and theoretical information but rather to enable them to learn in and from nature. The wide range of animals and the diversity of nature on the side of the mountain where the Nature Park is located makes it ideal for ‘open space learning‘. The impressive number of visitors shows that this model for packaging learning is attractive.  Visitors include many families and children of different ages who like to explore the Nature Park by themselves or with the support of their parents, staff and guides. Visitors also include students from universities who use the Park for research purposes. The extensive use and popularity of the Park is promoted by keeping access free-of-charge and barrier-free during the whole year. Moreover, most visitors appreciate the way that the Park is managed to preserve  its ‘wilderness’ quality, by only intervening in nature when this is necessary for the benefit of animals and visitors.

Nature trails

Another new feature of the Nature Park is the set of nature trails, which was designed by the local authority of Feldkirch in 1997. More than 70 interesting boards inform the visitors about the flora and fauna in the park. There is also information about the local climate and soil and descriptions of historic buildings in Feldkirch which may be seen from specific locations.

School competition

To increase further the attractiveness of the Nature Park as an educational institution, it started to organise games at the beginning of July each year, before the school summer break. Now 20 school classes, with about 440 pupils from all over Austria, are challenged to demonstrate their knowledge on nature topics, such as identifying tree leaves to understanding the relationship of animals to  the overall ecological system. Furthermore, the young people need to show their agility, speed and creativity on the nature trails in the woods. The competition aims to raise the awareness and knowledge of school children about nature. It is organised by a partnership of the Nature Park Association, the government of the region of Vorarlberg, the Foresters’ Club in Vorarlberg, and the local authority of Feldkirch.

The estimated 150,000 visitors per year show that the co-production model of the nature park works. Furthermore, the number of schools and other education facilities partnering with the nature park has increased.

As a result, the number of sponsors has also been increasing, which has allowed the Nature Park to extend the range of animals and the number of animal runs further. 

The cost of running the Nature Park is about €220,000 per year. This includes the costs of food and care for the animals, maintenance, staff salaries and equipment. The costs are met through the membership fees of about 700 Association members and through grants from the regional government  of Vorarlberg and the local authority of Feldkirch (who together meet about 50% of the costs), as well as donations and sponsorship, e.g. of particular projects or ‘godparentship’ of specific animals.

The Nature Park would not have been possible if the three founders had not shared their ideas during an informal round table (in German ‘Stammtisch’) and their personal networks which enabled them to mobilise volunteers and funding from business.

The Association has also managed to harness the enthusiasm of Nature Park Visitors and get at least some of them engaged in supporting the Nature Park and making a contribution. For example, when the Association needed a financial officer the Board members of the Association quickly identified an accountant who liked to visit the Nature Park but currently took care of her children which gave her the opportunity to do voluntary work for the Nature Park. The Association also managed to recruit a retired employee to take care of the administration of members. Other members are only prepared to make occasional contributions during events. However, the mix of volunteering opportunities makes the Association sustainable and ensures that it constantly develops new offers.

Homepage: http://www.wildparkfeldkirch.at