Schneverdingen: Ehrhorn Forest Experience

Ehrhorn Forest Experience

The central hub of the Ehrhorn Forest Experience is the beautiful, 360-year old listed Heidjerhaus, which is nestled in the legendary Ehrhorn dunes.

Forest adventure trail

Many interesting and exciting discoveries can be made around the Heidjerhaus. An ant lion - amongst other characters - will guide you along the 3.5 km long forest adventure trail. Alternatively, take a tour through the trees in the Arboretum. If you dare to participate in our blind run, you will experience the forest in a completely different way. For both activities, accompanying brochures are available free of charge at the respective starting points. The outdoor area invites you to relax and recharge your batteries for the ant pen that you can also find here.

Bringing the rich variety of native forests into focus is the aim of the Picture Frame Campaign of the Lower Saxony State Forests. Under the motto "Sustainability - get a picture of it", the staff of the Sellhorn forestry office have set up picture frames made of local wood throughout the Ehrhorn Forest Experience.

The frame on the forest adventure trail directs your gaze to an anthill made by red wood ants. Up to two million individuals - workers, males, and queens – inhabit the anthill. "Ants are landscape gardeners: they loosen the soil with their passageways," explains Knut Sierk from Lüneburg Heath Forest Education Centre. "This helps plant roots to get a better hold.” The ants also clean up the forest, helping decomposition of dead animals and eating large quantities of forest pests. At the same time, they serve as a source of food for other animals such as toads, birds, lizards, and spiders. The jay uses the formic acid produced by the ants to care for its plumage. The ants from this anthill disperse many thousands of plant seeds during the growing season.

Each picture frame is individually manufactured for the nationwide campaign "300 years of sustainability". The frames direct the gaze of hikers and visitors of the Ehrhorn Forest Experience to aspects of forests that have been managed according to the principle of sustainability for 300 years. Safeguarding the timber stock for future generations and conserving forests as a diverse and species-rich habitat for animals and plants is one of the principles of Lower Saxony State Forests. The concept of sustainability was developed by German forest management, specifically by Hans Carl von Carlowitz in 1713.