Organizations and institutions from 14 countries in the Balkans, Middle East and Africa join forces to save the endangered Egyptian vulture, proving that conservation actions know no borders.
Project "Urgent Actions to Strengthen the Balkan Population of the Egyptian Vulture and Secure Its Flyway" (LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874) which started since July 2017 and lasted for 5,5 years, with the contribution of the LIFE financial instrument of the European Union and co-funded by the A.G. Leventis, the Green Fund and the MAVA Foundation. The aim of the project was to safeguard the last pairs of Egyptian vultures in the Balkans and to ensure a safe migration route for them.
Project’s Areas
The Project is implemented in 35 sites (22 Natura 2000 Special Protection Areas) in 14 countries in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa.
Ιn Greece, the actions of the Project are implemented in 11 Special Protection Areas:
- Special Protection Area Mount Tymfi (Gkamila) (GR2130009)
- Special Protection Area Mount Dousko, Oreokastro, Meropi Forest, Gormos Valley and Delvinaki Lakes (GR2130010)
- Special Protection Area Mountains of Asterousia (Kofinas) (GR4310013)
- Special Protection Area Kompsato Valley (GR1130012)
- Special Protection Area Mountains of Evros – Dereio Valley (GR1110010)
- Special Protection Area Peaks of Mount Koziakas (GR1440006)
- Special Protection Area Central Zagori and eastern part of Mount Mitsikeli (GR2130011)
- Special Protection Area Mountains of Antihasia and Meteora (GR1440005)
- Special Protection Area Filiouri Valley (GR1130011)
- Special Protection Area Southern Forest Complex of Evros (GR1110009)
- Special Protection Area Dadia - Soufli Forest (GR1110002)
Project’s Objectives
The new LIFE Project for the Egyptian Vulture is one of the most ambitious conservation projects ever implemented for the protection of vultures and aims to strengthen Europe's easternmost Egyptian Vulture population by taking urgent conservation measures to address the main threats in the species breeding sites and along its migration route. The Project is based on the actions implemented during the period 2011-2016 through the LIFE+ project "The Return of the Neophron" (LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152), while it shares common objectives and follows the same guidelines for the conservation of the species as those set out in the Flyway Action Plan for the Conservation of the Balkan and Central Asian Populations of the Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus (EVFAP), which is a key element of the Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures.
More specifically, through the implementation of specific management actions, the Project’s aims are the following:
- Minimize the loss of mature individuals in the breeding grounds due to deliberate or accidental poisoning
- Ensure that mortality due to electrocution and collisions with energy infrastructures is reduced
- Ensure that food availability is not a limiting factor in the breeding grounds
- Mitigate the threats at the bottleneck and congregation sites along the flyway, e.g. reduce loss to poisoning, direct persecution, electrocution
- Reinforce the breeding population on the Balkans by deploying targeted restocking programme to boost population recovery
- Increase awareness of and support for Egyptian vulture conservation through engaging relevant stakeholders
>>> Follow the migration journey of Egyptian vultures to Africa and learn more about the species and our actions in the following link:
The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds/BirdLife Bulgaria (BSPB) is the Project’s coordinating beneficiary and the associated beneficiaries are the Hellenic Ornithological Society/BirdLife Greece, WWF Hellas, the British Ornithological Society/BirdLife England (RSPB), DoğaDerneği/BirdLife Turkey (DD), the regional offices of BirdLife International in Africa and in the Middle East, the A. P. Leventis Ornithological and Research Institute (APLORI), CMS Raptors MoU and the Green Balkans.
