The multi-faceted Living Danube Delta education campaign is bringing young people from three countries closer to the nature and wildlife of the delta, and educating them about the importance and benefits of rewilding.

At the end of the last year Aukje van Gerven, Training Manager at Rewilding Europe, visited the Oder Delta for a scouting trip in the area to meet the local team and find the right locations for a nature guide training, that will be held here in spring as part of Pelican Way of LIFE initiative.

At the end of December, an ornithologist Maksym Yakovlev and a zoologist Oleksandr Gaydash traditionally went to the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta to count the Dalmatian pelicans. Due to the war, access to some areas was limited or even closed, but scientists managed to do the counts in many large water bodies of the delta.

Despite the difficult weather conditions, at the end of December 2021, winter survey of the Dalmatian pelican took place in Ukraine. It was organized simultaneously with similar surveys in other Eastern European countries. This year’s results give hope: three and a half times more pelicans are left to spend the winter in the Danube Delta than last year.

In early June, two artificial breeding platforms for Dalmatian pelicans were installed in the Danube Biosphere Reserve in Ukraine as part of the “Pelican Way of LIFE” project.

Recent surveys indicate that the Dalmatian pelican is making a tentative comeback in Europe. This is good news for ongoing rewilding efforts, which are playing a supportive role in the recovery.

Supporting wildlife comeback is a core element of the work at Rewilding Europe. The story of how wild animals are returning across Europe, spontaneously or with human help, will soon captivate millions of television viewers around the world. The new six-part documentary series called “Europe’s New Wild” will begin a global rollout in early September. The series includes an episode about the Danube Delta – Europe’s Amazon.

Coordinated by Rewilding Europe, the “Pelican way of LIFE” project formally kicked off in Bucharest on November 20. Its pan-European, multi-partner efforts will hopefully boost populations of this important and iconic bird.