We’re still reforesting in 2020. Get involved!

msg Maraton Apuseni continued its reforestation activities in 2019. We went back to Vâlcele to plant roughly 2 hectares of saplings, as it takes us one step closer to fulfilling the second goal of our overall social cause.

On April 21st 2018, the msg Maraton Apuseni dedicated an entire day to the reforestation of Vâlcele, Cluj (Romania). With the help of the sponsor, the partners and all the volunteers, roughly 10.000 saplings were planted on location.
Special thanks to everyone involved: msg systems Romania, Clubul Alpin Roman Sectia Universitara Cluj, Organizația Națională Cercetașii României, Regia Nationala a Padurilor – Romsilva, Minorswing Hammocks, După Ski la WU, Cert Transylvania and all the people present at the event. Between 1990-2011 approximately 366.000 hectares of forest were cut in Romania. Although illegal deforestations are dropping in the present, we still need to be involved in our communities to better and to protect Romanian forests.

Find out below how you can support our cause!

msg Maraton Apuseni integrates every year a humanitarian component that aims to promote and to preserve the mountain areas in Apuseni, as well as to organize educational and sport activities for the members of the surrounding communities, especially for young people. Starting with the 5th edition of the event, organizers have launched a more complex support program, that includes several stages and objectives:

 organizing courses, camps, workshops and educational-sports activities especially for children and youth in the Apuseni mountains.

 integrating a secular forest around Băișoara in the network of protected areas of the Apuseni mountains.

 building a center for mountain activities on msg Maraton Apuseni course, with an architecture inspired by the traditional huts of the area.

• In 2019 we continued our collaboration with the community from Băișoara. A group of 30 students from Scoala Generala „Mircea Luca” took part in an educative camp that included outdoor activities (trekking, sport climbing), games, presentations about alpinism and mountain rescue and workshops about: prevention, bulying, conflict management, mountain photography.  The camp was organised with financial support from  Consiliului Judetean Cluj and volunteers from Clubul Alpin Român Filiala Cluj,  Serviciul Public Judetean Salvamont Salvaspeo Cluj.

• Between 2015-2017 the humanitarian component of msg Maraton Apuseni has brought a lot of new development activities in Băișoara community:

“We have tried first of all to start a relationship with  „Mircea Luca” elementary School in Băișoara. Children are those who take forward the local traditions. They are more open to novelty, and have a fresh view of the world.  Aware of the limited means the Romanian Alpine Club has in order to become involved in the schooling process, we have tried to attract in this partnership another school, urban and modern. We have thought of Transylvania College”. – tells us Anca Brisan, the volunteer coordinators for msg Maraton Apuseni and the heart of this initiative.

What were our objectives?

The Romanian Alpine Club, together with the students of Transylvania College in Cluj-Napoca and the students of „Mircea Luca” elementary school in Băișoara have identified together a set of improvements they wish to bring in their community:

The volunteers from Cluj have facilitated several activities aiming to develop certain skills of the children. One example would be a trip in the area of the Muntele Baisorii resort together with students from Baisoara and Transylvania College in order to promote outdoor activities and to help the children to navigate using a map and a compass.

During this activity, the group divided in two teams. One of them has received the challenge to scout different areas of the resort to identify traditional customs that are still in use in Baisoara. The second team examined the ski resort in Buscat in order to observe the changes and the challenges in using the land.

Next, a part of the documentation collected during the trip was used in the  Băișoara Service Learning project described below.

„It was a rich and complex interaction, during which many needs were identified, as well as good things. Starting from the idea that young people in the mountain areas are those who will manage this rich patrimony in the future, composed of important natural and antropic resources (forests, protected areas, rural sceneries long gone in other parts of the country, local traditions) we become even more aware of our social cause. In the same time, the technological evolution and modernity should have access in these areas, to be used in order to manage and enrich the individual and collective patrimony”  – tells us Anca Brisan, the volunteers coordinator and the heart of this initiative

After the meeting of the two schools at Băișoara, in the summer of 2017, students have created together a movie and a media platform for their project. We invite you to see them. Click play:

 Partners Baisoara Service Learning Project

We feel happy to contribute to this project together with