BSPB started and implementation of an international LIFE+ Project focused on the conservation of the globally threatened Egyptian vulture

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• BSPB started and implementation of an international LIFE+ Project focused on the conservation of the globally threatened Egyptian vulture

More than 20 years, the BSPB works actively on the conservation of the last wild vultures in Bulgaria. One amongst them – the Egyptian Vulture, is related on a specific way with the organization from its foundation being announced as a beloved symbol of the BSPB. At last, an international five years long project „Urgent measures to secure the survival of the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in Bulgaria and Greece” (LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152) with the short title „The return of the Neophron” has started due to the funding provided by the LIFE+ program of the European Commission and by the Leventis Foundation. In this project, four nongovernmental organizations (NGO): the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS), the WWF Greece and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) consolidate their efforts for the aim to prevent the extinction of the species in Bulgaria and Greece.

The NGO partners face to the challenge to implement 28 actions, devoted to improve the status of the Balkan breeding population of the Egyptian Vulture. Main project tasks are to reveal the fatal threats for the species and to establish a positive public opinion to the vultures and to the environment as a whole. Although the team efforts will be focused on 27 Special Protected Areas (SPA) from the Natura 2000 network in Bulgaria and Greece, part of the research will be focused on the major migration roads and the wintering areas in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

 Once the project teams were established and the Kickoff meeting between partners was held in Madjarovo, the first actions and related fieldwork started: mapping of dangerous pylons for insulation in vicinity to vulture’s nests, building platforms for artificial feeding of vultures during the breeding season and interviews with the local stakeholders. Other interesting project actions are the satellite tracking of juvenile and adult individuals, the improvement of breeding niches, the supplementary feeding of the breeding pairs, the creation of a network of experts on the Egyptian Vulture and a network of stakeholders supporting the project activities.

The project „The return of the Neophron” (LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152) is funded by the LIFE+ program of the EC and Leventis Foundation.

 For more information:
 Nikolai Terziev
 Education and Communications Officer
 nikolai.terziev@bspb.org