Heinz Sielmann Foundation

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The Heinz Sielmann Foundation was founded in 1994 by Heinz Sielmann and his wife Inge Sielmann as a foundation under civil law under the guiding principle "Nature conservation as a positive philosophy of life". The headquarters of the foundation are located in Duderstadt (Lower Saxony), the headquarters on Gut Herbigshagen near Duderstadt.

Objectives

Under the guiding principle “Diversity is our nature”, the Foundation pursues four goals:
To introduce people, especially children and young people, to a positive approach to nature through personal experience.
Last refuges for rare animal and plant species are preserved.
Raise public awareness of nature and its protection.
Maintain the Heinz-Sielmann archive of nature film.

The Foundation thus pursues exclusively charitable purposes. It operates and supports a large number of biotope and species conservation projects throughout Germany. It also acquires large landscapes in order to preserve them permanently for nature conservation and to secure biodiversity there. It also works with partners abroad.

Support
In order to protect nature and the environment, in particular to preserve the diversity of fauna and flora, the Foundation also operates as a funding institution. It supports projects outside state programmes in the Federal Republic of Germany. If the project object or content is directly related to natural and environmental topics in Germany, the Heinz Sielmann Foundation can also support projects outside the Federal Republic of Germany that comply with the tax code in individual cases. The funding may take the form of total or share financing, depending on the project.

Important projects (selection)
Project Mittelelbe-Schwarze Elster: Protection of Elbe and Elbaue near Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt)
Protection of dry lawns and rivers, Kuppenrhön (Thuringia)
Source protection in the Ampertal (Landkreis Freising, Bavaria)
Right of way for the fish otter: Fish otter protection in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis (Hesse)
Wild bees in school forests (Lower Saxony)
Resettlement of the Habichtskauz in the Steinwald Nature Park (Bavaria)
International nature film festival Green Screen (Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein)
Flower meadow plant “Blumiges Melle” as a refuge for insects (Melle, Lower Saxony), promoted until 2018
Bird care station in the Eekholt Wild Park (Schleswig-Holstein)
Resettlement of the Waldrapp, Überlingen (Baden-Württemberg)
Research and spatial use of Wisent and Przewalski horse in the Döberitz Heide (Brandenburg)
Hedgehog aid Radebeul (Saxony)

Nature Experience Centre Gut Herbigshagen
Located on the edge of the Harz and near Duderstadt in Eichsfeld in southern Lower Saxony, Gut Herbigshagen is the headquarters of the Heinz Sielmann Foundation. In 1996, she first leased the estate from the city of Duderstadt before acquiring it in 2003. As the Regional Environmental Education Center (RUZ) of the state of Lower Saxony, the estate is an important extracurricular learning location for school classes.