The Nestbox Challenge: Can 120 volunteers build 60 nestboxes in one hour?

A few months ago, the Center for European Volunteering reached out with a question: how could 120 volunteers engage in a hands-on activity and support Rissa’s mission? Our events usually accommodate no more than a dozen volunteers, but this was a unique opportunity. With so many eager hands, there was one valuable task the volunteers could take on: building nest boxes for the Songbird Project!

"They didn't know it was impossible, so they did it." Mark Twain

The room before the event, filled with 60 nestbox kits.

Step 1: Find wood

Preparing this event was already a massive challenge! First, we had to find and gather enough wood. When we asked Neumann, a local hardware store, if they were willing to give away EUR pallets, the operational manager Espen Bergland Jørgensen replied straight away: "Environment and sustainability are important for Neumann, so we are happy to sponsor your project". Sweet! EUR pallets are ideal building material for nestboxes. The planks are thick, and the wood is not chemically treated. Neumann even offered to deliver the pallets. Thank you Espen!

The delivery of the first 20 pallets by Neumann.

Step 2. Take the pallets apart

To build 65 nestboxes, we took apart 75 pallets, and sorted all the planks by size. Because we were aware of how much work was still needed at this point, we started wondering if we had not accepted a challenge that was beyond our capacity... But as for climbing a high mountain, we went on, one step at a time.

Step 3. Cut the planks

Since each nestbox requires 12 planks and we wanted to prepare 65 nestboxes, we needed to cut a total of 780 planks! From past experience, we knew that precise measurements and cuts were crucial. Only a 1 mm deviation results in a crooked nest box. It is a meticulous job, to say the least.

Clément building a nestbox.

Step 4: Find enough screws in Tromsø

There are several hardware stores in Tromsø, but as we needed 60 screwdrivers of a certain type and 1,300 screws of a particular dimension, we quickly discovered that there weren’t enough in the city. We realized this a bit too late, having relied on the information given on the stores' website, which turned out to be misleading. Ordering online from other cities in Norway was the next best option, but many major retailers didn’t have the items in their warehouses. Some did, but with shipping from Oslo to Tromsø taking up to two weeks, it wasn’t a solution: we were running out of time, and 120 volunteers were already on their way... How we managed to pull it off? Well, let’s just say we did, and everything was ready on time!

Step 5: Build the nestboxes

The volunteers were Sage employees visiting Tromsø as a reward for their accomplishments. Some traveled alongside their partner or family. As an instructional video played on a giant screen, everyone worked diligently to assemble the planks. A few left with a blister in the cup of their hand! In total, 55 nest boxes were successfully built. Well done, Sage team, mission accomplished! We are very grateful for your precious contribution, and sincerely impressed by the outcome! We wil keep you informed about the project.

Some of the volunteers in action!

Step 6: Paint and deploy

The nestboxes aren’t quite ready to be hung in trees yet. Next, a hinge system and a hook will be installed between the roof and main compartment to make it easier to check the nests. After that, the boxes will be painted to help preserve the wood and extend their lifespan in the harsh Arctic conditions. But this is another story!

Nestboxes of the Songbird citizen science project in Tromsø.

A collective effort. Thanks everyone!

The Nestbox Challenge was made possible thanks to the Center for European Volunteering (CEV) who first reached out to Rissa, and of course to the Sage team for joining and supporting the event.

Special thanks to Rita M. from CEV and Jamie H. for helping during the building event.

Tons of thanks to Erlend P for helping cut the planks and letting us borrow his garden to process the pallets.

Speaking of pallets, we already thanked Erlend B.J. and Neuman, but we are also very grateful to Lawrence M. for letting us borrow his parking space to store the pallets before we were able to take them apart.

Amy M. gave a precious hand to process the pallets and move the planks between places, and we love her for that and in general :)

Many thanks as well to Gabriella C. from CEV for the early chats, and to Libby H. and Kim C. from Sage for the kind interactions in Tromsø.

And of course, more thanks to the 120 volunteers!