Squirrel Forest Campaign in Oberjosbach

Nothing but grey skies

The day of our very own Frankfurt Squirrel Forest Campaign dawned dull and grey. It had already begun to rain in the night and looked like it was going to rain all day. Shortly after 9 o’clock five buses arrived in Oberjosbach with 186 children and their teachers from the Elsa-Brändström-Schule and the Freiherr-Vom-Stein-Schule. Foresters are used to bad weather and the Forest Seeding Association (WaldSaat e.V.) members aren’t so easily put off by rain, but how would the children react?

Collecting in the rain

We needn’t have worried, however. After a short welcoming speech and instructions from forester Behler-Sander (Forestry Office Königstein) the children set off to the woods with their ‘host’, area forester Lepke, and got down to work enthusiastically as if the rain didn’t bother them at all! It wasn’t quite so easy to find the acorns because fallen leaves had covered them in the meantime. The children also had to take care that the acorns weren’t parasitized by insects and so no longer able to germinate. Each group was accompanied by one of forester Lepke’s colleagues who explained everything to them. By about 10.30 the children had managed to collect enough acorns. A short blast on the horn summoned everyone again and then they went off to the first seeding site. Forester Lepke gave some more instructions and the children eagerly spread out and with great expertise buried some of their acorns. This assignment was followed by a well deserved break at the Oberjosbach forest lodge.

A break at the forest lodge

Miraculously it had suddenly stopped raining! The Lions Club Frankfurt am Main Skyline was not only the primary sponsor of our seeding event, but had also prepared refreshments which all the participants, big and little, lost no time tucking into. Activity Manager Henry Waltz and even the President of the club, Muzammil Yehiya, lent a helping hand and shared out sausages, bread, fruit and hot drinks! During the break Sigrid Appelt (versiko AG) presented the Forest Seeding Association (WaldSaat e.V.) with a cheque to support our work. Steffi Schweinfurt and her documentary film crew, reporters from hr-radio and –TV, Rhein-Main-TV and some newspaper reporters carried out interviews.

Sowing Forests

After the break it was back to the buses because the second seeding site was located in a different area. Forester Behler-Sander had already dealt with all the necessary formalities since under the law seeds may not automatically be used beyond the boundaries of forest areas. Our acorn collection site had, however, been officially certified, so there were no fundamental problems. When the children arrived at the second seeding site, an old conifer forest, they set off with buckets and trowels for the last time that day to create a new, self-sown oak forest there. We can’t wait to see what will become of both seeded oak sites and will – just like many other participants – be returning in the years to come to keep an eye on how our little oak trees are developing.

- A new oak forest is sown -

Thank you

We would like to thank Henry Waltz and the Lions Club Frankfurt am Main Skyline for their continual support in planning the event; we also thank Sigrid Appelt and versiko AG for ensuring that this Squirrel Forest Campaign project was on a solid financial footing. Our thanks also go to the foresters Behler-Sander and Lepke and to the whole forestry team of the Oberjosbach area for their wonderful support in preparing and carrying out the event. We would like to thank all 10 teachers from both the Elsa-Brändström-Schule (Form 3a: Ms Kramer, Ms Euler, Form 3c: Ms Franciszczok, Form 4a: Ms Docken, Ms Kahl) and also the Freiherr-Vom-Stein-Schule (Form 5a: Ms Heger, Ms Keller, Form 5b: Ms Kötter-Menzel, Form 5c: Ms Scharfenberg, Form 5d: Ms Ruß) and all the girls and boys for persevering so bravely despite the bad weather conditions!

We would especially like to thank all the participants who despite the rather unfavourable conditions made the Squirrel Forest Campaign project a cheerful and highly motivated event which I’m sure above all the young participants will remember for a long time.