Environmental trails opened: Invitation to the encounter of man and nature

On the weekend of October 14^th-16^th 2022, we celebrated the openings of our three sites in the Ruhr region with a total of over 100 participants. We took the completion of our area signage as an opportunity to invite all interested parties to visit the locations together with us. 

Despite the drizzle, several dozen visitors accepted our invitation to visit Ewald 5 (on Friday) and the Osthalde (on Saturday). To our delight, the participants asked no less lively questions, expressed wishes and ideas or reported from old times, as it was at the sunny event on Sunday on Kurl 3 – for the openness and interest we would like to thank you again at this point. 

After a short “hello” and getting to know each other, the Ecologists of the HeimatERBE team led all present along the signposted environmental trail across the area. Signs were placed at the main entrances to the areas for an overview of each site, the associated development plan, and instructions on how to enter the area on designated trails for controlled encounters between people and nature. 

Further sign stations explain the concept of HeimatERBE and the relevance as well as the special features of the different habitats on the areas. In addition to the short texts, there are photo collages on the display boards showing the ideal-typical characteristics of the biotopes or individual sections. These already provide a foretaste of a possible future character of the ecosystems, which will develop at different speeds. 

We cordially invite you to walk the nature trails on our sites and observe the developments for yourself. We look forward to hearing your perceptions on the next guided tour, which we will again announce here and on other channels.