[12.05.2006]

The Seminar (in duration of 5 days) for training the volunteers as a part of the project “National volunteer network for nature conservation in Macedonia” agreement Nr. 07.020100/2005/417477/SUB/E.3, took place in the period from 26th until the 30th of April, 2006 in Kavadarci. This project is the first support of the European Commission to the Balkan Vulture Action Plan (BVAP). The aim of this support is to increase the capacity of the NGOs administrations to work for nature conservation.

On the seminar there where present 49 volunteers from mixed profiles (pupils, students, members of the Hunt and Forest Organization, representatives from the National parks…) from all over Macedonia. As the project predicted, the lecturers were: Mr. Juan José Sánchez Ártes and Mr. Andreu Muntaner from Spain, Mr. Ben Hallmann from Holland, Mr. Bratislav Grubach from SCG, Mr. Tome Lisichanets, Mr. Metodija Velevski, and Mr. Emanuel Lisichanets from Macedonia, who introduced the volunteers with the achievement on the field of Protection of the Nature in their countries but also they put the accent on the exceptional importance and necessity for this type of activity. Beside the theoretical lectures in which we were introduced with the bases of protection, we also had a visit of the feeding place for the vultures, and the colony of vultures where the future volunteers were introduced with the practical work for protection of this species.

All the participants were given binoculars and books for Identification of birds which will be useful in their future work. During the common visit of the Colony of vultures we noticed that the participants of the seminar had followed with great attention all the lectures and that they can already recognized and make a difference between the different species of birds that we saw on terrain.
All the activities were followed by journalists from the local and national TV stations and newspapers and they gave reports to the public for our activities.

(FWFF-Mazedonia)