Activity report 2023

Our goals

In the Nature Park Concept of 2019, we set the goal to improve the diversity of the cultural landscape in the Wienerwald by creating additional habitats and retreats for animals and plants classified as in need of protection on the one hand, and to establish natural buffer zones on the outskirts of the city on the other. In addition, we wanted to support the conversion of our forest into one that is better adapted to climate change. The guideline for the implementation of these objectives was a series of measures drawn up by external experts. The plan proposed (a) the establishment of sunlit small bodies of water for yellow-bellied toads, great crested newts and other amphibians, (b) to designate several old wood islands, each approx. 1 ha in size, with old individual trees and strong, standing deadwood, thus providing a suitable habitat for oak beetles, woodpeckers and stock doves, (c) to restore the Schöffelstein meadow, (d) to build several sunny deadwood piles to improve the habitat of Aesculapian snakes and sand lizards and (e) to plant and promote bladdernut at several locations. In addition, a search for stone crayfish and the dragonfly species "Große Quelljungfer" was to be started in the Schintergraben by commissioning external experts.

Specifically for the 2023 work program, our primary goal in nature conservation was to make the nature park area more visible and thus increase the perception of visitors of the nature park as a landscape conservation area. This is the result of our work on vandalism prevention in 2021, which showed that it is important for the perception and appreciation of nature if visitors can consciously perceive that they are now part of nature themselves when they enter the nature park. We have linked this goal with better visitor guidance in general.

Our achievements in 2023

To pursue our nature conservation, we had in September 2021 submitted a project proposal to the Lower Austrian nature conservation department, in which we proposed to create a network of small standing bodies of water, create more breeding opportunities for endangered species and promote the renaturation of the Schöffelsteinwiese. However, the administration of Lower Austria did not give us any positive feedback until the end of 2023, presumably because our project submission also included the construction of a forest classroom plus its associated outdoor facilities. We have therefore in December 2023 extracted the nature conservation topics from our overall proposal and resubmitted them; this new submission was finally approved in January 2024 so that we can now finally implement the planned nature conservation activities. But we have already done a lot of preparatory work for objectives (a) to (e) in accordance with the nature park concept in previous years.

For the species search in the Schintergraben area we have found a biology student from the University of Vienna, who had started the search as part of her Master's thesis in summer 2023 but had to discontinue the work for university administrative reasons. We will therefore postpone the search until 2024.

Sustainable forest management

2023 was the third year in which we had implemented the guidelines for sustainable forest use adopted by the municipal council. At that time, a target value of around 100 fm (Festmeter) per year was set as the maximum extraction of wood, which corresponds to only around one-third of the sustainable extraction volume specified in the previous forest management plans. As early as 2021, extraction was already reduced to 135 fm and in 2022 to just 10 fm; in 2023, around 27 fm of beech, hornbeam & oak during the exemption of a grazing area in the deer enclosure was removed.
Thus, over the first 3 years of the new management regime, around 160 fm of wood was removed, which is less than 18% of the traditional sustainable removal of 900 fm. This means that just under 740 fm remained in the forest as "standing timber", which corresponds to a calculated CO2 accumulation of at least 600 tons. However, if one considers that more and older trees significantly increase CO2 storage through increased soil biomass, the total CO2 storage was probably far greater.
In this context, we organized an excursion to the Lainzer Tiergarten in autumn 2023 for the nature park board and local councillors to demonstrate how reduced use and the promotion of old trees contribute to climate protection. We are planning to offer another such event in summer 2024.

Visitor guidance for a better perception of nature

To guide visitors, we have re-signposted the most important access points to the nature park area, thereby highlighting the visibility of the nature reserve.
A large banner in the new nature park design was installed along the enclosure fence on the B44; for two banners on both sides of the B44 pedestrian bridge (which after many requests were finally approved by the district administration) we still have to agree with the municipal administration. We have employed only local companies from Purkersdorf for these two contracts.
Unfortunately, the signage promised by the administration of the Biosphärenpark Wienerwald (BPWW) for the areas of the BPWW core zone bordering the nature park has not yet been implemented, but the BPWW has assured us that this will be done soon.

Networking with European protected areas

To improve networking with managers of other European protected areas, nature park manager Gabriela Orosel was able to take part in a training course at the European Nature Academy, in which best practice examples of good management of protected area were exchanged and discussed.

Expansion of our “Trittsteinbiotope”

In 2022, the nature park and the municipality had already successfully submitted two “Trittsteinbiotope” to the Federal Research and Training Center for Forests (BFW) along the former "Danebenweg" for a period of 10 years. Such biotopes are important refuges for many species worthy of protection and contribute to the networking of habitats and the spread of species with limited ranges. In the previous year, we prepared two further areas to such an extent that we were able to submit them to BFW as additional potential areas. We expect these areas to be professionally assessed and accepted by the BFW in 2024.

Wildlife census with drone flights

The nature park supported the BAMBI research project at Hagenberg University of Applied Sciences, which is developing a method for counting wild animals in densely forested areas using infrared cameras mounted on drones. This method is important both for counting hunting game as well as protected mammals (e.g., wolves, lynx). As part of the project, the company "SpektakulAir" recorded infrared images over our wildlife enclosures to calibrate measurement data with the number of animals in the enclosure. Through this project, we obtained up-to-date aerial images of our entire park area, which we can use for other nature conservation projects.

Improved forest function for climate adaptation

In collaboration with our consultant for sustainable forest management and game reserves, Chief Forester Rainer Rubik, we have created several "mini biotopes" along hiking trails by creating opportunities for rainwater puddles to form. We have also improved rainwater drainage into the forest floor by regularly clearing drainage channels along heavily used hiking trails, thus improving water storage (and water supply during dry periods).
At selected locations we have also planted important nature park plants (e.g., bladdernut) and other regional woody shrubs. We have also determined the location of valuable forest trees, such as blackthorn and white fir, particularly along the Naturerlebnispfad & the Buchenweg, and at the nature park center. Based on these surveys, further locations for these regional and native forest trees or veteran trees are to be established in future.

Our goals

The main objectives of the 2019 Nature Park Concept were to expand the existing “Holzlabor” building into a weatherproof “Waldklasse” for nature-based regular lessons for school classes, and to adapt the existing facilities for nature-based lessons. Furthermore, the existing facilities and information areas were to be improved and the already well-developed forest education program expanded, whereby the peripheral zones of the nature park, such as the Feihlerhöhe orchard or the Schöffelstein meadow, were to be integrated into the educational work.

In the 2023 work program, we specifically wanted to promote cooperation with our Nature Park School and partner schools, and to push forward the establishment of a Nature Park School Campus. We also wanted to strengthen the existing education program and revise the information areas along the hiking trails in the nature park design.

Our achievements in 2023

As already mentioned under the topic of nature conservation, in September 2021 we had submitted a project proposal to the nature conservation department of the state of Lower Austria, in which we proposed the construction of a forest classroom and the associated outdoor facilities, but throughout 2023 this approval was repeatedly delayed. In the meantime, implementation would no longer be realistic for reasons of time alone, so we formally withdrew our submission in December 2023. We will make a new attempt at the end of 2024 in the new funding period of the EU "Rural Development" program.

"Lernraum Naturpark - Wald ist Klasse"

Our 4-year pilot project "Lernraum Naturpark - Wald ist Klasse", which we started in 2019 with the Gablitz elementary school, was completed in June 2023.
A similar program was taken over by two teachers at VS Purkersdorf from 2022 and also completed in June 2023.
Because the program was so well received by pupils & teachers, the town of Gablitz extended the project for another 4 years and expanded it with a separate educational program for teachers.
At the beginning of 2023, we were awarded the “Hans-Czettel-Förderpreis” for this educational initiative.

Development of the Nature Park School Campus

With the long-established Nature Park School ASO we have held an outdoor day in the nature park at least once a month, on which the pupils were allowed to look over the shoulders of the nature park team during their work and to lend a hand themselves. They built deadwood hedges, looked after the animals in the Kellerwiese and maintained the climate hedge at the Nature Park Center Deutschwald. This work not only brought the children closer to nature, but also showed the job description of a nature park maintenance manager.
In general, we stepped up our cooperation with all schools on the Purkersdorf school campus in 2023: the Special Needs School (ASO), the Elementary School (VS) and Middle School (NMS). For instance, we involved the ASO and the NMS in our "CSI Phäno Biota" project (funded by the Austrian Research Funding Agency FFG), in which the children were given a better understanding of the importance of the climate. Together with the students, we set up wooden troughs in the Kellerwiese and planted them with fresh herbs, and we created a small flowering meadow in front of the school. As a visible sign, two flags about "climate research" that were designed by the students now hang in front of the Bildungszentrum & ASO and the elementary school.
The "Science Meets School" project (sponsored by Science Department of the Province of Lower Austria) in which only 6 Lower Austrian nature parks were able to participate, deals with a similar topic as the “Phäno Biota”. The aim is to give students the opportunity to experience and learn about the impact of climate change on nature. To this end, in late fall 2023 we planted a climate hedge on Schwarzhubergasse in front of the schools and in the courtyard. Together with our nature education team, the pupils will start in spring 2024 to observe leaf growth & fall, flowering, fruit ripening as well as measuring temperature, sunshine duration, and precipitation. The outside research work will be processed and analyzed in the classrooms. The project runs until June 2025.
In the fall of 2023, we have together with the ASO, NMS & VS submitted a project proposal to the Association of Austrian Nature Parks (VNÖ) on the topic of "water full of life", which that was selected for funding at the beginning of 2024. During this project, we will set up a "research station" with the pupils at the existing water station on the Wien River.
This cooperation has brought us a big step closer to our goal of expanding the existing Nature Park School ASO with the VS and NMS into a Nature Park School Campus. Both VS and NMS have completed the administrative and organizational steps to be formally designated as Nature Park Schools in mid-2024.

Information campaign on the "Species of the Year 2023"

In cooperation with the Purkersdorf City Library, a campaign on those "Species of the Year 2023" that can be found in the nature park, was successfully implemented. Our aim was to raise awareness of the diversity of local wildlife and invite visitors to actively engage with nature. In addition to 2 summer "Lesen im Grünen" events, two experience days were organized in the foyer of the Bildungszentrum with interactive information stations on respective topics (e.g., spiders or birds).
In addition, we have designed new information boards along the hiking trails on "Animals of the Year in the Nature Park"; for example, we have set up the dormouse as "Mammal of the Year" at the Schöffelstein and the fire salamander as "Amphibian of the Year" along the “Salamanderweg”. During the 2023 Family Summer Days, the signal crayfish was named "Alien of the Year" and the great ramshorn snail was researched along the Wien river, while the "Landkärtchen" was presented as “Butterfly of the Year” along the Nature Experience Trail. The plaques for the "Species of the Year" will be put up again at the start of the 2024 season.

Forest education and educational programs

In 2023, we supervised around 50 educational excursions with more than 1,000 pupils from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Vienna as well as in the region. We noticed that both pupils and teachers were very interested in the topics of climate change and the water cycle. As our two water stations are being used more and more, we want to renew them in 2024.
In addition to the educational forest outings, we also offered events focusing on beech trees, "forest pharmacy", medicinal mushrooms, "forest bathing", honey extracting, nature park woodpeckers and wild animals. However, around one-third of the events offered could not be held due to a lack of bookings.
The two activity days at the Feihlerhöhe, which we had offered for several year, were in great demand on Friday (which is always reserved for school groups): almost 100 schoolchildren of all ages were able to gain an insight into the diversity and importance of orchards and the technique of scythe mowing. We are less satisfied with the Saturday event (in which we have offered volunteers the opportunity to learn how to use a hand scythe to mow gently): thus we will try a new setting from 2024.
In cooperation with the "Gesunde Gemeinde" campaign of the municipality, the nature park has supported two events for making herbal salts and fumigation.
In the fall of 2023, we supported a local high school class and its Polish partner class in carrying out their "Pilgrim Project". During this two-day assignment, we helped the students to replace and reposition fence posts in the donkey enclosure, to build a wooden pallet bench at the Kellerwiese entrance and to plant native trees and shrubs.

Preparatory work for the forest classroom

Although the project submitted to the Lower Austrian nature conservation department to redesign the wood laboratory was not approved and will probably have to be postponed until 2025, we have carried out preliminary work to improve the Holzlabor and its exhibits with the main tree species in the nature park (such as beech, oak, maple, spruce, fir, and larch).

The pillar of recreation was a difficult challenge for the nature park. The search for recreation as relaxation and as a balance to workplace is the prime motivation of nature park visitors. Due to the easy accessibility of our nature park for the local population and for visitors from the greater Vienna area, and because of the attractive offers for "recreation with added value", our nature park is one of the most visited Lower Austrian nature parks, but that requires intensive support from our maintenance team so that the nature park can keep its attractiveness.
In 2023, the nature park again had to put in a lot of work to ensure attractive rest areas, well-kept forest play areas and animal enclosures, as well as to collect and dispose of any garbage so that the protected area remains clean and attractive for families with children.
Unfortunately, due to the "touristic" orientation of recreation all activities that improve recreation are expressly excluded from the nature park funding scheme of the Lower Austrian Nature Conservation Department. It is only thanks to the support of the municipality that we were able to provide many important services for recreation in 2023.
In 2023, we therefore became increasingly involved in the platform of the Stadt-Umland-Management SUM (which is supported by the two provinces of Vienna and Lower Austria) so that we can highlight the services of the nature park for the city of Vienna and participate in any future funding campaigns. According to the SUM-“attractiveness criteria” for recreational areas, Purkersdorf nature park is one of the most attractive local recreational destinations in the immediate vicinity of Vienna. As SUM is planning to set up a joint funding agency for recreational areas across the federal provinces, we would like to significantly expand our presence at SUM.

Our goals

In the 2019 Nature Park Concept, the most important goal in terms of recreation was the gentle further development of the existing nature park area through the maintenance and expansion of themed trails, including a greater integration of the Vienna River, which has received little attention to date. We wanted to combine the recreational function of the forest with visitor’s experiences for mental and physical health.
In addition to the ongoing maintenance of the nature park infrastructure, the 2023 work program focused on the planning and implementation of the nature tourism development concept launched in December 2022 in accordance with advice of the "Siegel & Kaiser" tourism consultancy firm that was financed by the Lower Austrian Nature Park Association.

Our achievements in 2023

Maintenance of the nature park infrastructure

The nature park facilities were continuously maintained, repaired, and renewed in 2023. There is a lot of work that the nature park maintenance team does to support the municipality, especially when it comes to monitoring and maintaining playgrounds. For example, the nature park used its own funds to purchase a new climbing wall for the play area at the "Waldtreff".
Weather-exposed wooden equipment such as tables and benches were repaired and (if this was not possible) removed or replaced. Many signs - especially our information boards - were reinstalled, moved, or updated with new content. After storms and floods, damage (especially to the steep slopes of the nature trail) was surveyed and repaired as quickly as possible.
The maintenance of the enclosures also required a great deal of effort in 2023. There was some damage to fence posts and gates due to weathering and mechanical stress, both on the enclosures at Kellerwiese and the game enclosures in Deutschwald, for which we had to carry out extensive repairs.
There were also unforeseen problems with the new roe deer enclosure. After successfully moving into the new deer enclosure in January 2023, the roebuck and doe visibly felt at home and were a big attraction for our visitors. The "feeling of well-being" probably led to the doe becoming pregnant for her first time. Unfortunately, the goat died after giving birth and the fawn had no chance of survival. Shortly afterwards, a "wild" roebuck entered the enclosure through a small gap in the fence and chased away our "tame" roebuck. On the advice of the district forester, we then had to open the fence so that the "wild" roebuck could escape, meaning that since September 2023 we had no more roe deer in the fencing. We are using this vacancy to create an additional grazing & rest area in the new enclosure. We hope to be able to repopulate the roe deer enclosure from mid-2024.
We have found a new partner to finance the enclosures in 2023, who has agreed to sponsor the red deer enclosure with € 2,000 per year. But on the same time, we lost another sponsor for our wild boar enclosure; one of the reasons for that was that in late 2022 our male boar escaped and thus we had no offspring in 2023, making the enclosure less attractive. We therefore procured a new boar, with which we hope to have offspring in 2024.

Development of nature tourism

The focus of our activities in 2023 was on the further development of nature tourism, which had begun in December 2022. We have already been able to implement many of the improvements identified by the external experts. These include, for example, uniform signage at the nature park entrances, a design for our information boards that is as uniform & recognizable as possible and new thematic trails.
We have already mentioned the new signage for the entrances under the topic of nature conservation.
We have developed a clear, uniform design for the information boards and redesigned all of them (except for the project-related "Augen Auf"-boards) with it; we are very satisfied with the result because we can now offer our information much more clearly and our visitors can find their way around more easily.
In accordance with the recommendation of the external experts at the second workshop in January 2023, we have started to align our trails more closely with suitable “catchy” themes. We have defined three new theme-trails with several "experience stations" that are synchronized with local natural features:

- The new “Buchenweg” leads around the nature park: it will deal with the topic of trees, soil and forest, especially with the beech, as the most important tree species in the Vienna Woods.

- The “Schöffelweg” leads from the Schöffelkopf monument at the B44 to the Schöffelstein monument and further on to the Nature Park Center: it will deal with the topic of sustainable forestry, especially with the person and role of Josef Schöffel as an "environmental activist".

- The existing “Naturlehrpfad” will be repositioned as the “Naturerlebnisweg” trail: the existing “Blind Date“-stations, children's stations and water stations will be improved with several appropriate "points of interest".

These three theme-trails will highlight the unique features of the nature park and emphasize our core themes "beech – trees – soil" & "water – climate" & "Josef Schöffel – forest management". We have prepared a QR-code system for the information stations along the three trails, which our visitors can use to call up information on particularly interesting topics.
The new trails will request a significant restructuring of our trail maps, which we have already done in a "nature park experience map". The experience map contains all the trails, adventure stations and points of interest. We already presented the new map in the Purkersdorf Official Gazette in January 2024 and will add it to our website during the oncoming weeks. We have enlarged the extent of the new map, so it covers not only nature park proper but also on the Feihlerhöhe, the center of Purkersdorf, and the famous Sanatorium. This will bring the town's infrastructure and relevant gastronomic options much closer to nature park visitors than before.
As part of the new nature tourism positioning, we have in 2023 commissioned professional copywriting for the new trails, for the information stations and for our upcoming new nature park folder.
The implementation of our nature tourism activities will be completed in 2024, with setting up the new map at several locations and producing a new information brochure.

Our goals

Regarding regional development, we stated in our 2019 Nature Park Concept that it is important to strengthen cooperation with surrounding communities to improve the regional quality of life. Closer cooperation with regional producers or service providers should increase the added value of products that are considered “Nature Park Products”. We had planned to coordinate our activity program and our conservation measures with regional partners such as the BPWW and neighboring nature parks, as well as to network with educational institutions and other protected areas to expand our offerings.

More specifically, in our 2023 work program we have planned to strengthen the connection between the nature park and the population by cooperating with local communities and regional partners, and to involve the local population, so that their identification with the nature park is strengthened.

Our achievements in 2023

Cooperation with institutions of the municipality of Purkersdorf

Our most important regional cooperation is with the municipality of Purkersdorf and its facilities. We have already mentioned our cooperation with the schools (ASO, VS, NMS, high school) and the municipal library under chapter 2 “education”.
At the request of the municipality, we took part in the reception for new citizens and the “Vereinsstammtisch”, we accompanied the Sportfreunde Fitmarsch on October 26 and helped to organize the Wienerwaldkraxler event. As in previous years, we regularly informed the public about our work in 2023 with a double page spread in the Purkersdorf Municipal Gazette.

Involvement of the Stadtverschönerungsverein

The Stadtverschönerungsverein (StVV), which is one of the only two institutional members of the nature park association, was represented at several board meetings and agreed to finance the purchase of a bench set in the nature park. However, the StVV has withdrawn from looking after the Sängerbrunnen area, meaning that as of 2024 this responsibility will have to be taken over by the nature park: as a first step we are planning to replace the urgently needed fence bordering the B44 with a dead-wood hedge.

"Naturpark- und Klimafest"

In excellent cooperation with the municipality, the first "Naturpark- und Klimafest" took place in mid-September 2023 at the Nature Park Center. We have brought many cooperation partners, such as the "Natur im Garten", the Lower Austrian Energy and Environment Agency (eNu), the "Regionale Gehölzvermehrung" association, the "Save Soil" and "Natürlich Lernen" action groups and the "Food-Coop Wienerwald" and thus were to offer the 350 guests (including many children) a varied program.
Provincial Councillor Barbara Rosenkranz, who was a guest at the festival for about an hour, was very impressed and promised our nature park her support in receiving funding from the Lower Austrian provincial government.

Networking with regional partners

As already mentioned, the cooperation with the neighboring municipality of Gablitz has developed very well and stably, which is confirmed by the continuation of the "Wald ist Klasse" project. We also frequently report our work in the Gablitz Municipal Gazette, through which we can highlight the importance of the nature park for the overall region.
In cooperation with the Gablitz-based “Verein Dorothea” (that supports people who are unable to find direct access to the job market) the nature park provided a young client with an internship in 2023 to make it easier for him to enter working life.
In 2023 we had also continued our good cooperation with the BPWW for joint planning of activities and promotion of events. The BPWW also supported the nature park in the organization of the Feihlerhöhe activity days and of "Naturpark- und Klimafest". In return, we have supervised a hands-on station during the “Biosphärenpark-Cup” days in the Mauerbach Charterhouse.
We have already mentioned our involvement with the Stadt-Umland-Management (SUM) of the provinces of Vienna and Lower Austria: this platform is important to us because, among other things, it is also about how the responsibilities for maintenance of recreational areas in the greater Vienna area (especially for those recreational areas in Lower Austria that are mainly visited by guests from Vienna) might be clarified.
We have a long-standing collaboration with the Sparbach Nature Park, which we often use informally. In 2023, we supported our colleagues in Sparbach with a festival station at their spring festival, and in return, the Sparbach Nature Park attended a station at our “Naturpark- und Klimafest”. At management level, Ms Orosel and Ms Käfer have been in very close contact for many years.

Nature Park products & services

In terms of nature park products, we were able to consolidate the existing cooperation with beekeeper "Bieno"; in 2023, we offered a public honey spinning, which was very well attended. The competition for labels for our nature park honey that was already held for the third time in 2023, once again boosted demand for our honey.
However, in 2023 our search for new nature park products was once again unsuccessful. For 2024, we will restart talks with the Gablitz brewery for a nature park beer like the “forest beer” of the Austrian State Forest (ÖBf) company.
In terms of nature park services, we have continued our cooperation with local and regional providers who use the nature park for children's forest birthday parties, summer camps, yoga courses and forest bathing.