Conservation working holiday to Transylvania August 2016

We are looking for a team of 6-8 hardworking and reasonably fit wildlife enthusiasts to join us for this adventure in Translyvania this August. Please get in touch with an Expression of Interest form if you would like to join us.

The Haymaking Festival lasts from August 7th – 14th but we plan to stay from Saturday August 6th until Tuesday 16th to make the most of our time in this stunning corner of Europe. This will enable participants to take part in many of the festival activities and contribute  at least 4 days scrub clearance work in the higher pastures over the period of our stay. Access to these meadows will be by horse and cart!

During our stay we will have plenty of time to enjoy the butterflies, moths and other wildlife, listen to and dance to the local folk music and to explore the local area including the important local mountain, the Pogany-havas. The Haymaking festival involves a wide range of activities as well as scything, raking and loading up carts. Read the programme here.

We will arrange to pick up people at Miercurea Ciuc or Gyimes train stations on August 6th at a pre-arranged time, you will have to make your way there – you might like to build this conservation holiday into a longer stay in Romania, you would certainly appreciate it.

Haymeadows in Transylvania

Flights from the UK go to Bucharest, Targu Mures or Bacau with varying degrees of expense and inconvenience. There are trains from the UK to Miercurea Ciuc – have a look at the excellent Seat 61 rail travel website:  http://www.seat61.com/. Rail travel is not necessarily more expensive than flying and it is certainly better for the environment!

We organised a very successful butterfly surveying placement in Transylvania in 2011 – all the information about this can be found through this link, with our photos on the Flickr site in this collection. This collection of photos from our visit in 2012 might also be of interest.

For an expression of interest form click here. Please complete it and email it back. If you are selected for this visit, you will be asked to complete the full registration form which can downloaded here. For the programme and joining instructions click here.

Click here for a publicity flier.

The hazard analysis for this visit is to be found here:   Risk Analysis for Romania Visit July2016