Natures' treasure trails are gaining popularity
In August / September this year Baltic Environmental Forum (BEF) introduced two nature‘s treasure trails, the interest in which has been growing ever since. The Plokštinė trail in Žemaitija region has been completed by over 20 different groups already, while those who wanted to try out Verkių trail over the weekend had to queue in line.
The organizers are extremely happy about how popular the treasure hunt has become and invite everyone to try it out before trees lose all of their leaves.
Nature‘s treasure hunt – love for nature expressed through personal experience
Nature‘s treasure hunt based on ecoteering principles is a trail which does not have obvious signs, directions or indications. In order to complete the trail, „the hunters“ have to follow the signs created by nature (like trees, plants, cardinal directions etc.), which lead them to the treasure – a story about the history of the locality, surprising fact or a legend. On the way, the players have to complete several tasks, through which they get to know nature better, and which put them into the shoes of a real junior researcher. All the materials needed to start the hunt are provided at the visitors’ centre or at the restaurant.
„The idea to create trails like this - which would involve people and encourage them to spend more time in nature – had been something the organization wanted to implement for quite awhile.“ – says Rita Norvaišaitė, the communications specialist at BEF and the coordinator of the initiative. – „We believe that only by creating this emotional and personal experience for someone who spends so little time of his daily routine in the wilderness, we can explain the importance of nature and environmental protection. A big thank you goes to the company „Teo“, who believed in our idea and helped us to pull it off. This is an excellent example how socially responsible business can add value to the environment as well as to the society as a whole”.
The populatiry of the initiative exceeded organizers‘ expectations
Gamtoje.org team says that the number of visitors, as well as people who expressed interest in the new initiative, has exceeded their expectations. „The representative of the restaurant „Verkių malūnas“ (providing the „hunting“ materials for the players at the start of Verkiai trail) called us to tell that people are queuing to get on the trail.“ – Rita Norvaišaitė talks about the first weekend when the initiative was launched – „We were pleasantly surprised since the number of visitors in Plokštinės trail had been, even though steady, not very intense. We have received a lot of calls and inquiries since the launch, and the number of visitors seems to be constantly increasing. One thing we have realized is that there are not enough free time outdoors activities for people living in the capital“. According to the organizers, the only way to reduce the queues is to introduce more trails. “In order to ensure that our visitors have a great experience, we let new groups join the trail only every 15-20 minutes, so that different groups do not run into each other. If we make this time shorter, we will risk to have more confusion and rush added to the whole experience, while our goal is to encourage people to take their time and discover nature at their own pace.“ – explains Justas Gulbinas, the creator of Verkiai trail. Gamtoje.org team has been looking into ways how to introduce one more trail in Vilnius, and calls for support from any interested parties to make it happen.
A free time activity for family and a small group of friends
Each of the two currently operating trails are unique. Plokštinė trail is harder to navigate and it focuses more on nature, while it is barely possible to get lost on Verkiai trail, which tells stories focused both on the environment as well as culture.
It is highly recommended to go on the trails in groups of maximum 5-7 people, while 3-5 persons would be the optimal number. „That is the only way to fully immerse into the activity and enjoy it as much as possible” – says Rita Norvaišaitė.
The use of smart technologies on the trail is only encouraged if it is for capturing moments, while sharing them online is advisable only after fully completing the trail. When sharing a photo from the hunt, please add the hashtag #Gamtoslobiai.
Currently, trails are operating only in Lithuanian.
For more information about the nature‘s treasure hunt in Lithuanian, please visit Gamtoje.org.
