Welcome to the Dr. Werner Sidler Foundation and NATUR HUNZIKEN. Here you enter a world where beavers, otters, snipe, red-backed shrikes, foxes and stoats say good night to each other – and you can watch it all up close. Take the time to observe nature – for example, the around 100 different species of birds that have been spotted on the Dr. Werner Sidler Foundation’s nature reserve in Hunziken.
The Foundation
Dr. med. vet. Werner Sidler (1926 – 2015), who was born in the manor house of the Hunzikengut estate, established the foundation in 2008 with the aim, among other things, of allowing the general public to enjoy the beauty and nature of the Sidler family estate in Hunziken (municipality of Rubigen) for an indefinite period of time. In 2011, under his leadership, the foundation board expanded the foundation’s purpose to give greater weight to the concerns of nature, species and animal protection. At the same time, the founder contributed the majority of his approximately 43-hectare estate to the foundation. Dr Werner Sidler bequeathed the remaining properties – also in Worb and Spain – to ‘his’ foundation as sole heir upon his death.
Purpose of the foundation
The foundation pursues the goals of species protection, animal welfare, nature conservation, sport, recreation and culture. Its main focus is on charitable activities to promote nature and biodiversity, with an emphasis on the foundation’s wonderful and diverse 43-hectare site in Rubigen. Another, but only partially charitable, task of the foundation, according to its articles of association, is to offer the population of the region an attractive and natural recreational area – a purpose that the foundation has always fulfilled.
The foundation maintains the Hunzikengut estate as a whole for an indefinite period. It is committed to preserving and creating habitats for endangered or rare animal and plant species by running animal welfare and species conservation projects with a local, national or international focus. It participates in third-party projects exclusively in the form of collaborations.
In December 2021, the Foundation Board decided to give top priority to the protection of nature, species and animals.
Benevol
Virtually everything that has been created over the last two decades on the foundation’s grounds in Hunziken in terms of wonderful nature and, in some cases, culture and cultural promotion, has only been possible thanks to the immense charitable commitment of volunteers – above all Dr Werner Sidler himself. If this motivates you, you can contact the Hunziken Nature Conservation Group, because there is a lot to be done to benefit the natural environment of Hunziken.
