European Wilderness Volunteer DiaryThe Diary of the European Wilderness Society Volunteers

Biff Houlston

A swim, a pizza and a farewell

Our last adventure brought all the volunteers together as we said goodbye to the first of us, Rebecca. On Monday the 5th we finished a little early and cycled up the valley along a beautiful cycle path, which meanders along the river Taurach to Mauterndorf. Here we enjoyed the last few....

Medieval festival

One weekend I was greeted with glorious sunshine and the prospect of medieval shenanigans and steam trains. Snacks packed and a bottle of water I made my way down to Sankt Andrä im Lungau. Along the way I met one of my other colleagues Hanna. She walked the last stretch with me and soon....

Amphibians, Reptiles and Medieval people

Amphibians in Mariapfarr As the snow began to melt and the signs of spring started to emerge, so did the herps. On one of my walks I found myself around the lake of the Der Outdoorparc Lungau. It was the breeding season of the common toad, Bufo bufo. Thousands (or so it seemed to excited....

Learning to ski

As a passionate and amateur herpetologist I was very keen to start exploring of Austria to see the various snakes, lizards and amphibians the country has to offer. But with the largest dump of snow the Lungau had had in many years… it meant I had a long time to wait and a lot of....

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Getting to Austria

My time here in Austria started officially in February but first I would need to get there. Volunteers before me moved with a suitcase and backpack; taking only the essentials and necessities. With a year ahead of me, a want to visit friends old and new along the way and having always....

WILDArt Exhibition Tamsweg-22375.jpg - © European Wilderness Society CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

The WILDArt Exhibition

Within my first few weeks at the European Wilderness Society we displayed some of the artwork produced during last year’s WILDArt project in Synevyr Wilderness in Ukraine. Together with the team we had a short time to frame and hang up what felt like hundreds of prints, pictures and....

European Wilderness Academy Days 2019 - 23453.JPG - © European Wilderness Society CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Academy days

Soon after the WILDArt exhibition we rolled straight into the Academy Days; 3 days of talking and listening to experts in the respective fields. From honoured guests John Hausdoerffer the founding Dean of the School of Environmental & Sustainability and Gary Oye, the former chief of....