Annual Report 2021

“Nature and its admirers” is the inscription from 1814 on the portal to the courtyard of the Liechtenstein Garden Palace.

The importance of nature and the possibilities for us humans to move about in it was once again the focus of many experiences in the past year, both for us as the nature park team, as well as for our guests. Nevertheless, over the course of the year a “new” normality emerged, shaped by a series of events that the nature park brought with it in 2021.

Let’s take a look back at a few highlights from this season:

Start of the Season - Easter Break - Start of the Season

As planned, the nature park opened its gates to our guests on March 27th, but the corona-related Easter break was announced just a few days later. The nature park reopened on May 3rd. We were extremely pleased to welcome the first school classes and kindergarten groups for guided tours in the nature park. After a long break, we were finally able to fulfill our educational mandate once again.

Here Comes Peggy

Peggy, as our team affectionately calls our new electric van, started her mission in May 2021. Peggy “loves” the electricity from the photovoltaic system on the roof of the visitor center and helps our team with their daily work in the nature park. Full of energy, Peggy offers sustainable support for our team!  

The Architect’s Day  

An event day was actually planned for the Hinterbrühl elementary school on the subject of “Architectural Artists in Nature” in Naturpark Sparbach. The corona pandemic required a change of plans: Together, a barefoot path was created in the school garden of the elementary school. The nature park supplied some of the materials, and the community workers built the stable framework. The children from the nature park school took care of filling it. As part of the opening ceremony, Mayor Mag. Erich Moser walked the path blindfolded. The new “wellness area” is a big success and very popular with the children.

PEFC Award in the Forest Category

After a year-long break due to COVID, the PEFC Awards 2020 for sustainable forest management and wood processing in Lavanttal could be handed over personally and exclusively to the winners on June 15th, 2021 during “Forest Week”. Every year, PEFC-certified Austrian forest managers and companies are honored in 2 categories for their extraordinary efforts to implement the PEFC forest certification system and thus promote active, sustainable and climate-friendly forest management.

We are very honored to receive this award in the FOREST category.

Waldquelle Goes Hiking - The Family Hiking Day

On September 5th, 2021, families were able to admire the forest art exhibition along the 4.5 km family hiking route, and learn a lot about mineral water and its origin as well as the Sparbach Nature Park at Schacherplatz. The participants were provided with hiking packages from the Waldquelle company and a child-friendly family program. Thanks to this successful cooperation, children were admitted free all day. The positive response from visitors has motivated us to organize a similar event for the coming year.

Reforestation Project in Cooperation with Raiffeisen Leasing

The necessary timber harvest for a forest area of approximately 1.2 hectares (with a stock of European beech trees approximately 160 years old and a stock of ash trees approximately 30-60 years old) in the immediate vicinity of the show enclosure was carried out in the winter months of 2021. Individual vital trees (wild cherry, sycamore maple, service tree) were left in the area and, like the neighboring European beech trees, will ensure natural regeneration. The harvested wood was marketed in the region as log wood, wood chips and firewood.

After preparing the area, creating small biotopes to increase forest biodiversity (creation of habitats, especially for amphibians and insects) and erecting a protective fence, the additional climate-friendly reforestation with sessile oaks, service trees, Douglas firs and larches, as well as the planting of hedge plants from the selection of the Lower Austrian Hedge Day, took place in autumn in cooperation with the “Wir für Bienen” campaign.

We were particularly pleased that we received active support for the reforestation from a school class from Vienna, who themselves learn about topics such as sustainability and climate protection as part of their “2BTree” class project.

The area created with financial support from Raiffeisen Leasing enables nature park guests to watch the climate-friendly forest of the future grow.

October – The Season Comes to a Close

Many of our guests took the autumn hiking season as an opportunity to once again use the newly designed hiking map and the associated guidance system in the nature park. Wonderful autumn weather and the splendid colors of the changing foliage accompanied these activities.

Preview of 2022 – The 60th Anniversary of Naturpark Sparbach

We want to start the nature park season on Saturday, March 26th and the big birthday party for the nature park is planned for April 30th. In May, the unique light spectacle will take place for the second time since 2019. Information on this will be available on our homepage in due course.

Thank You Very Much

The Naturpark Sparbach Team would like to thank all our guests for the numerous visits during this challenging year of corona 2021 and wish you a Merry Christmas and good luck and health in the New Year.

See you again in Austria’s oldest nature park in the anniversary year 2022!