UNESCO savanorės Lovis Schneider metai Kuršių nerijoje (anglų kalba)

Dalinamės UNESCO savanorės Lovis Schneider įspūdžiais iš metus trukusios savanorystės Kuršių nerijos nacionaliniame parke.

Volunteering on the Curonian Spit: Tasks, Opportunities and Experiences

Hello, my name is Lovis Schneider. I am 20 years old and originally from Freiburg, which is located close to the Black Forest in the south of Germany.

During the past year, I had the great opportunity to volunteer at the Curonian Spit National Park in Lithuania.

In the following, you can read about my experiences and the things I learned and did during my time at the National Park.

Arrival at the Curonian Spit

During my search for different volunteer programs, I found the German UNESCO Commission’s Program „Kulturweit“. The program offers young people the opportunity to go abroad and gain experience, for example, at the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Personally, I found UNESCO sites concerning nature especially interesting! 

Once it was clear that I would go to the Curonian Spit National Park in Lithuania, I was very curious to see the unique cultural landscape of the Spit and was interested to understand the nature management processes better. In addition, I was excited to get to know the people, their culture, language, and traditions. What would the work of specialists look like? Who would be my colleagues? What would their lives be like? And what about all the knowledge and experiences I could gather working in a protected area! I felt that this experience would give me the possibility to grow in many ways: to learn about a new culture and to enhance my social abilities through contact and exchange with colleagues, visitors, and locals of all ages.

When I arrived a year ago, the Curonian Spit seemed like another universe. The narrow peninsula with such diverse nature, different water on both sides, the massive sand dunes, the forest and the peace which surrounds the Spit, it all impressed me immensely. From the beginning, I liked to explore the territory on weekends, enjoyed the silent places and fresh air. Spending time in nature was always very nice, beautiful and refreshing.

Important dates, celebrations, and events

Over the past year, I had the chance to participate in several different events, for example, on the 10th anniversary of the “Sveika, Neringa” festival in September 2025. During this festival, volunteers, mostly students from various Lithuanian cities, contributed to the preservation of the unique landscape and biodiversity of the Curonian Spit. Within one day, they removed pine saplings, the invasive plant Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), and wove protective dune fences to protect the grey dunes. Through this, I learned that volunteering is a very important part of prevention work on the Curonian Spit. It also showed how essential it is to work together as a community when protecting the natural environment. 

A few weeks later, at the beginning of October, the National Park Administration took me to the EUROPARC conference in Birštonas, which took place in Lithuania for the first time. EUROPARC is a network of national and nature parks, and the conference takes place in a different country every two years. The conference included presentations, workshops, excursions to protected areas, and a networking fair, where I spoke with different people from other parks. It was very interesting to learn that people in other parks are dealing with similar problems and topics, such as strategies for nature conservation and sustainable tourism. Since the conference was being hosted in Lithuania, I had the chance to try Lithuanian food and experience the traditional way of dancing in the evenings. During the same trip, I had the chance to visit Neries Regional Park as well as Kernavė, which is a Cultural Reserve, also listed on the World Heritage List.

In 2025, the Curonian Spit National Park Administration celebrated the 25-year anniversary of inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Therefore, on December 2, 2025, the Administration staff, including me, were invited to celebrate the UNESCO anniversary in Vilnius. Speeches were held, we watched an old movie about the history of the moving sand dunes, and everyone had the chance to write a wish for the future of the Curonian Spit on postcards with historical pictures, which was a lovely idea.

Throughout this year, the celebrations continue. 2026 marks the 35-year anniversary of the establishment of the National Park. For that special occasion, the Administration staff spent a day at different places on the Curonian Spit. We had an educational activity about birds, learned new things about the diverse landscape on the Curonian Spit, and had a wonderful dinner together. It was very nice to be part of the team on that day!

During the Sea Festival in July, I had the chance to go with the “Danges flotile”, a flotilla made of different old wooden boats, which used to sail in the Curonian Lagoon. For many years, it has been a tradition that the Park Administration decorates these old, wooden, traditional boats. After I decorated the boats with my colleagues, we also had the chance to sail on one of them on the river in Klaipeda’s old town. It was both mesmerizing and interesting to see the celebration and the city from a different view.

My responsibilities

Besides all the special events I named above, I also had many responsibilities during my time with the National Park Administration.

For example, the landscape specialist created a map for me, showing all the infrastructure in the area. My task was to visit the marked locations — such as directional signs, information stands, benches, stairs, and bicycle stands — and to document their condition. When necessary, I took photos and informed my colleague if something was damaged and needed to be restored. This work was especially enjoyable because it allowed me to get to know the Curonian Spit better and to discover hidden places, for example, along the lagoon, which are not easy to reach and usually very calm.

Besides working on the infrastructure, I also spent a lot of time in the Visitor Center, where I helped visitors, gave information about the Park, sold souvenirs, and gave guided tours of our exhibition in English or occasionally in German. From time to time, I also assisted with educational activities and during summertime, I also participated in some hikes as a guide myself. The topic of the hikes was the formation of the penninsula, old Nida, and different nature aspects of the Curonian Spit. This put me in contact with visitors of all ages and from different places, and because of that each hike was different. The most satisfying part was that I had the chance to tell and share my knowledge about the area, which I gathered during my time there.

In addition, I designed posters and made photos and videos for social media. I also helped with practical tasks such as restoring fences, painting stairs, changing directional signs, and in general, I helped whenever help was needed.

Another big task that I was responsible for was the preparation of the English-language version of the National Park website. It took a lot of time and effort - translating, checking, and proofreading the content. When I look at the website now, I am proud of all the work I have done.

Challenges and surprises

Throughout the whole year, I tried to learn the Lithuanian language, which was very difficult to me. Even though I can understand the main phrases, topics and simple questions by now, the language barrier was one of the biggest challenges for me. And even though I felt included at work and in activities, in some moments I felt left out and wished to be able to be part of the conversations and the language community.

The most impressive season was the winter for me. I had never experienced such cold weather before. We had a lot of snow and the lagoon froze over. Despite the cold, I had the chance to go ice skating and walking on the Lagoon, which was very special for me.

Another challenge was the difference between winter and the crowdy, busy summer season. With all the events, especially the Lithuanian traditional festivals, the seasonal change was a big change for me. Especially the Joninės celebration has remained in my memory. Together with a friend I tried to make a traditional flower crown, which was fun and difficult at the same time. We also saw some traditional music, dances, and, of course, the beautiful Lithuanian clothing. I really enjoyed the festival, it felt like a fairy tale.

While such a year is set to hold challenges, the insights and experiences I gained made it well worth it.

I truly enjoyed spending my time on the Curonian Spit. I am very thankful for the experiences I gained, all the people I met, the lovely conversations I had, and the friendships I made during my time here.

I expect that by the time I visit next, both nature and the community will have changed, at least a little bit, and I am excited to get to know it again and learn even more.

Atnaujinimo data: 2026-09-11

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