Nature conservation with a cargo bike. A visit to the island of Koos.
23.10.2024 | Sustainability
Two federal volunteers are doing a ‘green’ job with a red cargo bike around the island of Koos in the Greifswald Bay in Northern Germany. A story with a pioneering character – in nature conservation and in a rural region.
Welcome to the nature reserve. Photo: © Arne Bischoff
Nature conservation on the island of Koos
The entrance gate to the island of Koos swings quietly open as the large red cargo bike rolls through. The metal foot of the fence post projects out of the loading bay, looking just a little threatening. But there is no reason to worry: the load is well secured. Frederike Brunswick and Nils Helge Havertz have made sure of this. They work as federal volunteers for the Greifswald Succow Foundation. Their work vehicle is a Riese & Müller Packster 70. And today they are replacing rotten signposts around the island.
One year of federal voluntary service in the “Ronald Abraham House”
The island of Koos is located within the “Island of Koos, Kooser Lake and Wampener Reef” nature reserve north of the university town of Greifswald. During their volunteering service, Frederike and Nils will live alone for a year on the island, which is connected to the mainland by a narrow dyke, and is closed to the public. A tomato plant stands on the terrace of the Ronald Abraham House, and in the small garden they grow vegetables, while chickens run freely across the island. The two of them have the freedom to organise their own lives and work on the island: in the rhythm of nature and the seasons, and depending on what needs doing. A few weeks ago, former volunteers came back to celebrate a “Koosiade” party together. Spray-painted bike tires were used to symbolise the Olympic rings. What a fitting slogan!
Frederike Brunswick and Nils Helge Havertz with their Riese & Müller Packster 70. Photo: © Arne Bischoff
Cargo bike instead of a car: a “game changer”
Private vehicles are not permitted within the nature reserve. Nonetheless, cars are largely essential for nature conservation work, explains Dr. Nina Seifert. As the Nature Conservation Manager, she manages the nature reserve from the Succow head office in Greifswald, about 15 kilometres away. Cars are used for work across the extensive terrain and to supply “the Koosis” (as the federal volunteers on the island call themselves) with food. “The cargo bike was a game changer for us,” recalls Seifert.
After all, everything that the two consume has to be brought onto the island in all weathers. Until recently, that even meant drinking water. The water treatment plant on the island has only been in operation for a few weeks after extensive repairs. For these tasks, the federal volunteers had to cycle to Greifswald, get a car, complete their work, and then return everything. “A logistical nightmare,” explains Seifert.
Signpost monitoring is just one job in the nature reserve. Photo: © Arne Bischoff
A cargo bike in rural areas: is it possible?
The logistical nightmare is now a thing of the past. Frederike and Nils now use the cargo bike for shopping, to travel quickly to Greifswald for private or business purposes, and for their everyday work within the nature reserve. And they are very versatile, as Frederike explains: “Checking fences and signage, monitoring tasks, including breeding and migratory bird surveys, guided tours through the nature reserve. Then we load up the bike with binoculars and optics for our visitors.” Both came here after their studies. Nils studied Landscape Ecology in Greifswald, Frederike Environmental Sciences in Oldenburg. They wanted to do practical conservation work, outdoors in nature.
Spending time on the bike is also such a great outdoor experience. The wind blows constantly, mostly from the west or east. “We always have a headwind in one direction. Away from the island or towards the island,” Nils laughs. This is where the electric motor helps, just as it does with heavy loads. Today, we are also transporting a sledgehammer in addition to the large fence post and all kinds of tools. Neither of them were worried about using the cargo bike. They have always cycled. However, it took a few days to get used to the heavy cargo bike. That, though, is long forgotten. The bike has proved itself. Also on the long distances in the Greifswald hinterland: the bike easily copes with a range of 60 to 70 kilometres on a single battery. And does so although we also like riding in “Turbo” mode in the nature reserve. Frederike could happily do without the 25 km/h speed limit: “I’m just as fast as you!” she shouts laughing after the photographer, who is also riding an e-bike.
How the cargo bike came to the island
It was thanks to the initiative of the Foundation and its nature conservation officers that the cargo bike arrived on the island. Nils had shot a video with Frederike’s predecessors Ferdi and Max, which they and the Foundation used to apply for support from Riese & Müller. Their vision: “To increasingly – no, preferably finally – leave the car standing at home.” Their wish was fulfilled. Riese & Müller supported the foundation with a donation in kind. This is a decision that Seifert also hopes will become a role model: “We are currently experiencing everything the bike can do here. Perhaps this is also an opportunity for future procurement decisions.” In addition, Seifert added, the bike is a great advertising tool on which we still plan to attach Foundation stickers. People are curious, you start talking to them and then demonstrate the possibilities of using the bike as a means of transport.
“Protecting the peatland is also climate protection”
Peatlands and wetlands are one of the Foundation’s main focal areas. Founded in 1999 by the holder of the “Alternative Nobel Prize” (Right Livelihood Award) Prof. em. Michael Succow, today the Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary. It now employs around 50 permanent employees, predominantly in Germany and the successor states of the former Soviet Union. Projects in these countries form a second priority, science, with education a third priority. The link between bikes and the peatland is shorter than you might think: climate protection.
Across the world, there is twice as much CO2 bound in peatlands than in all the forests put together, explains Dr. Nina Seifert. However, peatlands account for only about three percent of the Earth’s land area. Unfortunately, this figure is dropping. The consequences are catastrophic: “A single hectare of deeply drained peatland emits as much greenhouse gas as driving around the earth four and a half times by car,” explains Seifert. That is why, in recent years, peatlands and their importance for climate protection have finally received more attention, after centuries of bad image and negative framing. Today, the Foundation is trying to teach people that peatlands are exciting and beautiful, not dangerous. This starts with schoolchildren. A second important lever is agriculture, which is responsible for a large proportion of peatland and wetland drainage. Together with agriculture and indeed for it, the Foundation is researching and developing forms of use in rewetted wetlands, so-called paludiculture, working closely with the Greifswald “Moorland University”. Today, for example, the Otto Group uses shipping boxes made of paludi biomass material, Seifert reports, and continues: “I hope that society, politicians and decision-makers will recognise the urgency of the situation and that we will act faster!”
More about the work of the Succow Foundation:
succow-stiftung.de
Wet soil is good for the climate. Photo: © Arne Bischoff