Over the weekend with a three-day Vulture Festival Rewilding Rhodopes team marked the successful completion of the LIFE project “Conservation of black and griffon vultures in the Rhodope Mountains”. The event was attended by more than 500 people, including student classes from Plovdiv and guests from Sofia, Madjarovo and the surrounding area.
Around 100 children took part in the various creative workshops and theatrical miniature “Fairytale Mission with the Sorcerer”. With the help of the team of “Atelier HB” young nature enthusiast created beautiful 3D model of a griffon vulture. The young conservationists created toys, pencil cases and book dividers in the form of bird feathers and silhouettes of vultures. In this way, the worksop participants learned more about the role of plumage, the structure of the feather, the specifics of the color of the feathers in different species of vultures.
Interesing and well attended was the lecture “Photographing birds – tips and tricks” carried put bu wildlife photographers – Bogdan Boev. Bogdan is one of the few photographers in the country who managed to turn his hobby into a profession. For years he has been showing the beauty of Bulgarian nature, training beginner enthusiasts and working tirelessly to cultivate a more responsible attitude towards wildlife. In his lecture, he presented some of the challenges facing wildlife photography, where and how to photograph wildlife, especially birds.
Touchingg was the story about the griffon vulture Pachelia, which had no wings, created with the help of the children. Thanks to the children’s imagination and desire to see the majestic birds in flight, at the end of the vulture’s performance, a completely new pair of wings were made for Pachelia so that she could enjoy her flight in the sky.
The festival was also visited by local journalists and bloggers, who prepared special materials for the festival and the area, which aims to promote the area and the project work.
Throughout the festival guests had the opportunity to visit free of charge Nature Center of the Eastern Rhodopes, which was our host and learn more about vultures, nature and the achievements of the team over the past five years. There was also an observation tube and boards for griffon vultures and black vultures available for visitors, and everyone will be able to take pictures with the tray and enter the body or under the wings of their favorite vulture.
The festival was held within the project “Conservation of black and griffon vultures in the Rhodope Mountains”, developed by Rewilding Europe, in partnership with the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. The project is funded by the EC’s LIFE program.