Junior Rangers in Frederikshavn Municipality

Formidlingskonsulent & Naturvejleder Junior Ranger in Frederikshavn Municipality

Published on:

Junior Rangers in Frederikshavn Municipality have a number of great activities they can choose from in order to help preserve the environment. A well thought out program, combined with the love for nature, and commitment to forwarding the knowledge to the youth turned out to be the perfect recipe for a big number of interested candidates. 

At the Municipality of Frederikshavn in 2017, the Department for Parks and Roads made a targeted concept with Junior Rangers as volunteer helpers in municipal woods and natural areas. The concept is aimed at children and adolescents residing in Frederikshavn Municipality.

Being involved with nature

Junior Rangers help at Nature Reserves, National Parks, and natural areas. They can be voluntary guides, help with footbridges, signs, feed wildlife in the winter, count bats and much more.

Formidlingskonsulent & Naturvejleder Junior Ranger in Frederikshavn Municipality

The overall objective is to teach youngsters the importance of preserving and caring for nature, and for them to become ambassadors of nature. Every year, education is provided for 20 young people, and there is always a high number of those who want to become Junior Rangers.

Formidlingskonsulent & Naturvejleder Junior Ranger in Frederikshavn Municipality

What they want to achieve

The children shall:

  • Learn how to communicate nature, biodiversity and the use/protection of natural areas.
  • Learn about nature all over the world.
  • Support municipal events in municipal woods and areas of natural beauty.
  • Help educate other youngsters in schools and elsewhere.
  • Be ambassadors for nature in Frederikshavn Municipality.
  • Join other Junior Rangers on an international level.

The basis for the project is to teach children:

  • The basic knowledge of nature’s context.
  • Special knowledge of wildlife and flora in the Danish countryside.
  • Considerations on the use of nature.
  • Ownership of nature.

The younger the children are, the more experiential learning is required, and other educational objectives will be pushed to the background slightly, and this interpretation is based on years of knowledge and experience.

Formidlingskonsulent & Naturvejleder Junior Ranger in Frederikshavn Municipality

The integration and construction of knowledge must occur in an open and dynamic process. Different education modules and educational theory and practice must contribute to providing new knowledge and developing natural science so that the children’s understanding of nature is built up step-by-step.

Content and target group

The first contact between the children and the teachers (Rangers and park staff) occurs after an in-depth introduction. Then the children’s knowledge is built up with different kinds of games, knowledge about animals through information trips, visits to conservators, games in nature, overnight trips, wild food and many different types of learning techniques that will be slightly dependent on the composition of the group.

The first team of Junior Rangers in Frederikshavn Municipality consists of 10 girls and 10 boys from 10-13-years-old. The age group is selected based on experience with the group and their ability to “learn”. The older Junior Rangers help to teach the new Junior Rangers about nature. The target group of 15-16-year-olds will also have the opportunity to participate in the International Junior Ranger Camp that is organized and coordinated by Europarc. You can learn more about it here!

Formidlingskonsulent & Naturvejleder Junior Ranger in Frederikshavn Municipality