A walk in the forest, whether in winter in the snow or in summer under the cool canopy of leaves, offers so much - and it's completely free! It is therefore all the more important that it is preserved in its natural form. This requires appropriate and respectful behavior in the forest.
NIKIN contributes to the planting of trees with your help. Every product you buy from us ensures that a Tree is planted somewhere in a needy place in the world. Forests are important to us, and 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 are just visiting!
With all due respect: whenever we go into the forest, enjoy the green splendor and take pleasure in the silence or the encounters with forest animals, we should not forget that we are only guests in the forest. From this we can quickly deduce how we should behave in the forest. Just as we would with dear friends whom we value and respect. Forest protection and sustainability go hand in hand!
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We enjoy the forest for a few hours. Others, however, live in it and with it. This of course applies to the forest animals that have their habitat here, but also to the plants and trees. Together, they form a unique forest ecosystem.
And it's so easy to help keep the forest as it is. For its animals and plants. For us and our children.
- When you are out and about in the forest, alone or with friends, stay on the paths. Away from the paths, under the trees and in the thicket, small animals and plants find their habitat. Some of them we don't even notice. Under no circumstances should we trample through their "parlor".
- In the forest, you want to enjoy the silence and the sounds of the animals. A radio turned up full blast has no place here. It disturbs other hikers in the forest - and it disturbs the wild animals even more. If you absolutely want to walk through the forest with music, take headphones with you.
- Driving cars or using other vehicles such as motorcycles on forest paths is generally not permitted. Riders should also stay on the designated bridleways - not least because of the risk of accidents.
- Dogs enjoy a walk in the woods just as much as their humans. However, they should be kept on a lead. Young wild animals in particular go into a kind of stupor 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 leave. If you encounter 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 also makes it more susceptible to pests or fungal infestation.
- Picking berries and mushrooms for your own use is permitted in the forest. However, you should be careful here too and only pick forest fruits that you can really eat and that are ripe. It is better to leave unripe berries on the vine - for other visitors. In the case of mushrooms, don't pick the whole crop, 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 barbecues, which are always set up at a sufficient distance from the vegetation. These can be used, but here too it is important to ensure that no glowing coals are tipped into the undergrowth afterwards and that no smouldering matches are carelessly thrown away. The images of the forest fires of summer 2018 should really convince everyone to be particularly careful when dealing with fire. In addition to the destruction of vegetation, forest fires cause thousands of deaths among wildlife.
It's not that difficult to treat the forest with care. So that we can still enjoy it tomorrow and in a hundred years' time. And if you see others who don't know the "forest etiquette", point it out to them!
Great activities in the forest
It's simply nice to go for a walk in the forest with your eyes open. If you take a plant guide with you, you will discover things that you hadn't even noticed before. Identifying forest birds by their voices is also great fun, especially when walking through the forest with children.
If you are lucky, you can take advantage of guided forest walks in your area and learn a lot about the forest - usually from a forestry expert - that the casual walker does not learn.
For the more athletic, there are numerous leisure activities ranging from forest sports trails to treetop climbing (including equipment and safety equipment) - often on the edges of the forest, where the animal inhabitants of our forests are not disturbed.
