The third edition of the volunteer conservation camp organized by the Directorate of Persina Nature Park under the “Pelican Way of LIFE” initiative recently took place.
Enthusiastic participants included students from Konstantin Preslavsky University of Shumen (Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Biology), Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy in Varna, Medical University of Varna, and several schools: Dimitar Blagoev Secondary School in Svishtov, Geo Milev Math High School in Pleven, and Dimcho Debelyanov Secondary School in Belene.
Over four days, 25 young volunteers engaged in activities to improve and maintain habitats in Persina Nature Park. They prepared reeds for pelican nesting sites on Persin Island, cleared plastic waste from the Barata River (which feeds into the Kaikusha Marsh within the Kaikusha Protected Area), and renovated the birdwatching tower at the Ramsar site “Belen Islands Complex.” The group also monitored amphibians and fish in small wetland water bodies on Persin Island and explored the floodplain forest on Magaretsa Island.
The camp also featured an educational module with presentations by Vesselin Koev, Deputy Director, and Daniela Mihova, Chief Biodiversity Expert from Persina Nature Park, along with guest lecturers Stoyan Mihov (WWF Bulgaria) and Svilen Cheshmedjiev (BSPB Coordinator in Svishtov). Topics covered included protected areas within the national ecological network, the history of Dalmatian pelican nesting site restoration on Persin Island, and updates on the “Pelican Way of LIFE” initiative. Guest speakers discussed sturgeon conservation, the 2024 WWF Living Planet Report, and recent satellite telemetry findings on Dalmatian pelicans.
The 2024 conservation camp outcomes were impressive: over 150 m² of nesting area prepared for the new season in Peschina and Martvo Marshes, 90 bags (120 liters each) of plastic waste removed from the Barata River, and a 4.5-meter wooden monitoring tower renovated in front of Peschina Marsh. This is the third edition of the conservation camp in the Persina Nature Park, with the previous held in 2022 and 2023.
Persina Nature Park Directorate extends heartfelt thanks to all volunteers for their dedication to wildlife conservation.
This volunteer conservation camp is part of the international initiative “Conservation of the Dalmatian Pelican along the Black Sea-Mediterranean Flyway,” known as “Pelican way of LIFE” (LIFE18/NAT/NL/000716), coordinated by Rewilding Europe and funded by the LIFE Programme of the European Union and Arcadia Foundation, and with the assistance in Bulgaria of the Whitley Fund for Nature.