Scythes and water buffalos

Sunscreen, gardening gloves ... and this time scythes instead of pruning shears: On 28 May, the Lucerne Festival team once again pitched in to help nature. After three volunteer projects at Gaia’s Farm in Pfeffikon, where we worked with BirdLife Lucerne to plant, care for, and protect around 1000 shrubs, these plants are now big enough to continue growing into a sturdy hedge without our annual help. They’ve practically “grown up.”

It’s time to turn our attention to a new habitat. In beautiful, hot summer weather, this year’s outing took us to the Ronfeld nature reserve near Baldegg Abbey. Together with Pro Natura Luzern and under the guidance of Marianne Baruffa, Head of nature reserve management at Pro Natura Luzern, the team worked at a site directly linked to the Lucerne Festival’s 2025 sustainability project “Quak: Klänge am Wasser”: Last summer, frogs, toads, and their calls took center stage on Europaplatz in front of the KKL Luzern; now, this commitment lives on in a real amphibian habitat.

Shortly before nine o’clock, the team met on site, received an introduction, and a brief scything lesson. Using two different types of scythes, we set out to mow the edges and sloping banks. Work was also carried out along the water’s edge: the goal was to cut the grass and reeds so that the shoreline areas would become more open again and the habitat would remain accessible. In the meadow, young willow shoots were also removed to prevent the area from becoming overgrown.

In addition to scythes, reeds, and willows, the Asian water buffalo in the nature reserve also provided some special encounters. For lunch, the group then headed to Baldegg Abbey: a lovely break after an intense morning outdoors in nature!

A small part of last year’s “Quak” project has also been preserved in Ronfeld: the educational trail sign about the common toad from Europaplatz has been reinstalled in the nature reserve. By scanning a QR code, visitors can now hear the common toad’s call and its musical rendition by violinist Marina Kifferstein.

After three years of hedge maintenance in Pfeffikon, Lucerne Festival has thus begun a new chapter: with scythes, summer heat, and water buffalos in the Ronfeld Nature Reserve.