Breaking the law in nature reserve Little sympathy for extreme hiker following fine notice

Siebengebirge · For spending the night in a nature reserve and lighting a fire, extreme hiker Sebastian Reuter has been fined a hefty sum by the Rhine-Sieg district. The matter is being discussed on the web and beyond.

 Trampling paths around the Ofenkaulen. Time and again, visitors disregard the rules in the nature reserve. The case of extreme hiker Sebastian Reuter is getting a lot of attention (archive photo).

Trampling paths around the Ofenkaulen. Time and again, visitors disregard the rules in the nature reserve. The case of extreme hiker Sebastian Reuter is getting a lot of attention (archive photo).

Foto: Frank Homann

The case of the heavy fine for extreme hiker Sebastian Reuter is making headlines. After Reuter posted videos on his YouTube channel "Outdoor mit Sebastian" (Outdoor with Sebastian) showing him spending the night in shelters in the Siebengebirge nature reserve and in the Wahner Heide, making fires and using prohibited paths - and thus breaking the law - the district imposed a fine of 10,480.15 euros. There is heated discussion about this on the net. Many have little sympathy for the hiker but find some of the points raised by the district problematic.

"I think it's good that there is a crackdown on this kind of behaviour. Even if some of the reasons sound funny. (...) There is a difference between breaking rules as an individual and no one noticing, and showing how easy it is to break those rules," reads one of the more than 100 comments on the article on the GA Facebook page. The fact that Reuter, who has 50,000 followers on YouTube, could incite others to imitate illegal behaviour with his video weighs heavily in the view of the Rhine-Sieg district.

As reported, the district considers that the extreme hiker acted intentionally. "If you don't give a damn about nature conservation, then you shouldn't be surprised when you are presented with the bill. The Ofenkaulen and the Aerostahl-Stollen are closed off for good reason and trespassing is forbidden. And anyone who lights an open fire in a protected forest area need not be surprised at the reaction of the authorities," writes one user, who at the same time criticises the "muddle in the routing and the map display". Many people are critical of the fact that the district accuses Reuter of trespassing.

Trail markings in the Siebengebirge nature reserve are criticised

The notices that paths may not be entered are insufficient, they say in a comment under the Youtube video in which Sebastian Reuter reports on the fine. Kai Sackmann, an outdoor enthusiast from Bonn who has 189,000 subscribers to his Youtube channel of the same name and regularly hikes in the Siebengebirge himself, also feels that the signposting of the trails is incomplete.

To this end, he goes on tour in the Siebengebirge himself for the video and gives examples. "If there are paths that should not be walked on, then that's the way it is. (...) Then we as outdoorspeople should accept it, but it must be clearly recognisable," says Sackmann to his followers, referring to one of the stop signs that were installed at the end of June along with other new trail markings. These are supposed to make it clearer to hikers, cyclists and horse riders which paths they are allowed to use.

Siebengebirge Nature Park wants to make visitors more aware in the future

The team of the Siebengebirge Nature Park feels almost " knocked over " by everything that is happening about the case, as team member Eike Rilinger explains. They want to approach the district's nature conservation authority to jointly consider what else can be done to further raise awareness among visitors to the Siebengebirge nature reserve.

Rilinger also feels that apparently "many people do not realise that they are walking in a nature reserve". The new path markings and stop signs are a good move. However, the precondition is that the signs are taken seriously. Christoph Rüter, head of the district environmental office, had reported that the old spray-painted markings were often faked or simply ignored.

For Werner Stieber, managing director of the Verschönerungsverein für das Siebengebirge (VVS) (Making the Siebengebirge more beautiful), the case against Reuter is clear: "It takes a certain amount of cheek to disregard existing rules in this way. It's disrespectful to nature." As is well known, the voluntary VVS is one of the private forest owners in the Siebengebirge. The largest part of the Siebengebirge nature reserve - almost 90 per cent - is located on the territory of the Rhein-Sieg district municipalities of Bad Honnef and Königswinter. The Siebengebirge is a 100 percent nature reserve, with 86 percent forest. The Siebengebirge is part of the 11,200-hectare Siebengebirge Nature Park.

More staff for the field service

The VVS also experiences that visitors violate the law on nature conservation, says Stieber: "Time and again we find signs that people have made fires, and glass bottles and shards left behind in the forest, which act like a burning glass in these places. You don't want to imagine what can become of it." As an association, the VVS has no means to punish violations; the district, which is also responsible for the nature park, has sovereignty over this end. At the same time, the association can file a complaint. However, the majority of these relate to unauthorised use of the paths by motor vehicles.

The district also confirms this, as it employs a field service to detect and punish violations. In the first half of 2022, 1,850 violations have been registered so far. Most of the checks took place in the Siebengebirge, along the Sieg, in the Wahner Heide and in the Vorgebirge near Bornheim. The most frequent offence was pedestrians leaving the paths, followed by incorrectly parked motor vehicles, dogs not on a leash and cyclists leaving the paths.

"My personal view is that the field staff should be increased," says Stieber. With so many nature conservation areas, four employees are simply not enough. It is important to Stieber that "it is not about harassing the visitors, but about pointing out the important regulations and raising awareness for nature and its protection". (Original text: Lydia Schauff and Claudia Sülzen / Translation: Jean Lennox)

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