Forest Winter

Off into the forest - but the right way!

A walk in the forest, whether in the snow in winter or under the cool canopy in summer, offers so much - and it's completely free! That is why it is all the more important that it is preserved in its form. This calls for appropriate and respectful behaviour in the forest.

A walk in the forest, whether in the snow in winter or under the cool canopy in summer, offers so much - and it's completely free! That is why it is all the more important that it is preserved in its form. This calls for appropriate and respectful behaviour in the forest.

 

With your help, NIKIN contributes to the planting of trees. Every product you buy from us ensures that a tree is planted somewhere in the world. Forests are important to us, not just forests in South America or Asia, but also our local forests. We love them, we use them, they are a source of relaxation and regeneration. But what is the right way to behave in the forest?

We're just visiting!

With all love: whenever we go into the forest, enjoy the green splendour and take pleasure in the silence or the encounter with forest animals, we should not forget that we are only guests in the forest. From this, we can also quite quickly deduce how we should behave in the forest. Just as we would do with dear friends whom we value and respect. Forest protection and sustainability go hand in hand!

We enjoy the forest for a few hours. Others, however, live in it and with it. This applies, of course, to the forest animals that have their habitat here, but also to the plants and trees. All of them together form a unique ecosystem called "forest".

And it is so easy to contribute to keeping the forest as it is. For its animals and plants. For us and our children.

  • When you are out in the forest, alone or with friends, stay on the paths. Off the paths, under the trees and in the thicket, small animals and plants find their habitat. Some of them we don't even notice. We should never trample through their "home".
  • In the forest, you want to enjoy the silence and the sounds of the animals. A radio turned up full blast really has no place here. It disturbs other forest walkers - and it disturbs the wildlife even more. If you absolutely want to walk through the forest with music, take headphones with you.
  • Driving a car or using other vehicles such as motorbikes on forest trails is generally not permitted. Riders should also stay on the designated bridle paths - if only because of the risk of accidents.
  • Dogs enjoy a forest walk as much as their humans. But they should do so on a leash. Young wild animals in particular go into a kind of rigidity in the face of a threat and are easy prey for unsupervised dogs.
  • What applies to your dog also applies to you - stay away from forest animals. Cute young animals that seem abandoned are not alone. The mother is usually nearby and hiding until you are gone. If you meet adult wild animals that show no signs of shyness, you should take to your heels yourself. This is a side effect of rabies!
  • The plants should not be damaged either. Tearing off branches and flowers or, worse, "decorating" the bark of trees with carvings is not a good idea. It not only disfigures the plant, but makes it more susceptible to pests or fungal attack.
  • Picking berries and mushrooms for your own use is allowed in the forest. But here, too, you should proceed carefully and only take those forest fruits that you can really eat and that are also ripe. It is better to leave unripe berries on the vine - for other visitors. With mushrooms, do not pick the whole stand, but leave a few. In this way, mushrooms can ensure that spores are sown and that porcini and chanterelles grow again next year.
  • And finally, the very big taboo: No fire! No cigarettes, no matches, no barbecue. At least not in the forest. There are designated and paved barbecue areas for a barbecue party, which are always set up at a sufficient distance from the vegetation. These can be used, but here, too, it should be ensured afterwards that no glowing barbecue coals are tipped into the undergrowth or smouldering matches carelessly thrown away. The images of the forest fires of the summer of 2018 should really convince everyone to be especially careful when dealing with fire. In addition to the destroyed vegetation, a forest fire brings thousands of deaths to wildlife.

It is not that difficult to treat the forest with care. So that we can still enjoy it tomorrow and in a hundred years. And if you see others who do not know the "forest etiquette", point it out to them!

Great activities in the forest

It is simply beautiful to walk in the forest with your eyes open. If you take a plant guide with you, you will discover things that you have not noticed before. Identifying forest birds by their voices is also great fun, especially when walking in the forest with children.

If you are lucky, you can make use of the offer of guided forest walks in your neighbourhood and learn - usually from a forestry expert - a lot about the forest that the casual walker does not learn.

For the more athletic, there are numerous recreational opportunities from forest sports trails to treetop climbing (including equipment and safety) - often at the edges of the forest where it does not disturb the animal inhabitants of our forests.

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