Become a part of Junior Ranger stories and experiences: “Wintercamp in Bavarian Forest”

Wintercamp in Bavarian Forest

Junior Rangers from Denmark, Cairngorms National Park, and National Park Bavarian forest met up in Bavaria in the beginning of March. The National park had invited Junior Rangers from Denmark and Scotland to participate in a winter camp, where they had an opportunity to learn more about Nature in wintertime and work on collaborating together across the borders.

Ranger Mario Schmid and the Junior Rangers in the National park of the Bavarian forest had created a fantastic program full of versatile activities. Participants left the camp full of impressions and new experiences.

They are very grateful for this opportunity and are hoping to be able to host the next edition of the camp.

Join the Junior Ranger Programme

The EUROPARC Junior Ranger Programme was launched in 2002 as a pilot project embracing four partner parks. The network has grown ever since. Being part of an extended European Junior Ranger network enables young people to connect with their peers across Europe.

The EUROPARC Federation Junior Ranger Programme is aimed at young people aged 12-18 who are living within or close to the protected area. In 2016, the programme involves around 80 Protected Areas across 19 different EU countries, working with ~5000 youths every year.

Discover our Junior Ranger network in Europe with our infographic.

Requirements and recommendations to join the EUROPARC  JR network:

• A 5 – days programme per year is the minimum required expected: it can be one week, or different days activities throughout the year.
• Activities should provide real nature conservation work experiences, and possibly also include cultural and social topics. Most of them should be done outdoors, in nature.
• Parks running Junior Ranger activities must be a EUROPARC member. We will provide all the information needed and help to get you started.

The map below is showing all Junior Ranger projects across Europe (in 2015-2019), with basic information, useful links, videos or pictures. We recommend to put the map on full screen ( left bottom button ) or to open it in a new tab.

What does it mean to be a Junior Ranger

Being a respected participant in Junior Ranger and other youth activities in a Protected Area enables young people of the community to feel they have a role to play and can see their actions having an impact on improvements to their areas, as well as building strong interpersonal skills that will contribute to better relations in education, business, and society.

Such Junior Ranger programmes are:

• Good for the development of the Ranger Service (or park staff);
  
• Facilitate social cohesion by improving relations between the park and the local community;
• And can make positive, confident and healthy young people

Being part of the network also enables to connect Junior Rangers in Protected Areas across Europe. Perhaps you want to find a Junior Ranger Programme to twin with from another part of Europe. We can help members with support and advice and connect across the network. Some of our sections encourage programme, for instance, the very successful programme in Germany.

To learn more about the work of Junior Rangers, you can watch the documentary “A European Tour of Junior Rangers: Working for Nature“. This film portrays some of the activities that some of the Junior and Youth Ranger teams carry out to protect endangered habitats and species in Europe.

To learn more about this program, please download the brochure, as well as the very useful guide of good practice published by EAI.

And visit the official EUROPARC Junior Ranger Facebook!