Volunteering with UBS Helpetica for snakes and ermine

“What do I enjoy the most? I love everything here; I can solve puzzles with stones and be outside all day. The work is a mixture of meditation and physical exercise.” Elena Eigenheer was thrilled with her volunteer work in the great outdoors, with the landscape and also with the spirit of the entire team. Eigenheer is one of seven volunteers who, during three days in August, restored a dry stone wall in the middle of a meadow on Alp Durnan in the Beverin Nature Park in Graubünden. They became aware of the project via the UBS Helpetica volunteering platform.

Alp Durnan is situated at just over 1,800 meters above sea level, high above the village of Andeer. Dry stone walls have a long tradition in this region. They provide protection against wind and weather, create terraced pastureland and serve as retaining walls, as well as being very important for biodiversity. They are an essential habitat for plants and many small animals such as lizards, snakes and ermine. They also shape the landscape.

“We still have a few years to go before we’ve restored all the dry stone walls up here,” says Flurin Stoffel, project manager at Beverin Nature Park. One thing’s for sure: he will be calling for volunteers again next year and at least half of this year’s volunteers have promised to participate again. The collaboration with UBS Helpetica not only helps him renew the dry stone walls but also to raise the profile of the entire project and the Beverin Nature Park.