The Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award requires you to spend 5 days and 4 nights away from home, either developing a new skill or doing something to help the environment. I decided to do a project offered by Bergwaldprojekt e. V., a non-profit organisation that promotes the care, protection and maintenance of the forest. I wanted to do it as far away from home as possible, so I went to Vicosoprano in the Grisons in the south of Switzerland. I would spend four days working and one day on a small excursion where the foresters would explain what they do and how important the forest is. We were always split into two groups for work, doing different things in different areas that day, and then switching if there was more work to be done the next day.

Our working days were from Monday to Friday, with the field trip taking place on Thursday. We started our working week by clearing a meadow. The work was quite tiring, but we got a lot done and had a lot of fun. On the second day some of us built a fence and I was in the group that built a three-legged buck and planted some trees. The fence is to protect the saplings and the buck is to protect the saplings from the snow that might suffocate them during the winter. On the third day we started by clearing another meadow. It was the same work as the first day but with better weather It was repetitive, but we all talked more and made jokes. Then we went to a 'test forest' where the rangers had planted different types of trees to see which would survive best. We had to clear the area around the saplings with sickles. It was very warm and our knees were tired, but we made sure we had plenty of water breaks.

On Thursday we had a field trip to a small town and learnt about neophytes, which we then pulled out of the ground as they were invasive. The second half of the day we met with the head ranger who told us about the importance of the forest and how it protects the towns in the valley from mud, landslides and avalanches. We were also told about the dangers of bark beetles and deer, which destroy the bark of the trees, killing the whole tree. On Friday we planted chestnuts on very sloping and stony ground that was hard on our ankles. And we finished the week by sickling the area around the rest of the trees.

In general, the work was very varied and incredibly well thought out and planned. Everyone was able to do something different every day and we got a lot done. It was interesting to see how much work goes into maintaining a forest and how important it is to look after it and protect it from any damage. It was not always easy because sometimes standing on a slope for a long time started to strain your ankles or shovelling a bundle started to hurt your shoulder, but the care and conversation we had throughout the day made it all worthwhile. The food, in particular, helped to make up for the slightly tedious working days. It was seasonal, regional and mostly vegetarian. We had five meals a day, often the same things, but very nicely prepared. Another little challenge for me was the language, but as Swiss German sounds at least a little like German, I was able to piece together the meaning of some of the sentences.