In 5 acres forest, in Ouwehands Zoo, Rhenen in Holland, bears with a tragic history are taking care of. They have been used for circus acts or movies. Bears that came fearful, aggressive and hungry to Rhenen seem to have forgotten about their painful paste and show more and more their natural behaviour.

Alertis foundation for bear and nature protection developed a method for relief and treatment that give back abused bears their health and spirit.

The current 11 citizens of the Bearforest are from Turkey, Bosnia, Germany and Russia.

Alertis gives the opportunity to become co-owner of a parcel of the Bearforest.. The name of the owner will be mentioned on a billboard at the entrance of the Bearforest.

John Denver was not only a wonderful singer-songwriter but also a human who stood up for peace. He also fought against the hunger and poverty in the world. John was concerned about nature and the environment. He had deep respect for each and every breathing thing on mother Earth. He was committed to a peaceful and sustainable future for our planet.

To keep Johns ideas and vision alive, in memory of him and to thank him for everything he left us… his music and vision, we started a project to buy one or more parcels of the Bearforest for John. John as the owner of a piece of Grizzly forest. His name will be mentioned on the billboard at the entrance of the forest.

As you can see on the picture, we already bought the first parcel! As a reference to John's birthday we have choosen for parcel 1231.

We also did receive a certificate. It says:

Bearforest certificate
owner of ten square metres of the Bearforest in Rhenen, worth E. 475,00.
Name: Together we can make a difference - John Denver
Date: 4 october 2004
In name of the foundation: H.J. Muntingh - Chairman
With this certificate you are the "owner" of parcel 1231 of the Bearforest.
The Bearforest is an initiative of Alertis
The ownership has ofcourse a symbolic value.

On november 27th 2004 some (staff)members of The World Of John Denver visited the Bearforest and took a good view at the billboard where John is mentioned. On the picture from the left to the right Nico, Lucille, Netty, Jolly, Marlijn, Carla en Ton. On the back Michiel points to the exact location of parcel 1231.

As you might expect, we continued our efforts and sponsored a second parcel, number 1112! We gave it the name "A wild heart looking for a home", and we received a certificate for this one too!

And with the sponsoring of this second parcel, we ended this project. The remaining amount of money (75,00 Euro) on the bank account of the project is donated to Alertis. We thank everyone who donated to this project for their contribution, together we did make a difference!