The Hellenic Ornithological Society, together with hundreds of organizations from 90 different countries celebrated the International Migratory Bird Day (May 10-11) with a number of activities that took place at several Greek wetlands focusing on the protection of areas that are considered transit zones for birds and the positive role that sustainable tourism can play. Those activities included excursions for birdwatching at the reservoirs of Lake Karla and scheduled presentations of the rich birdlife of the region of Volos, tour and birdwatching at the wetlands of Sani, Halkidiki, with visitors from Greece and abroad (England, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, France, USA), birdwatching with the parallel implementation of environmental education activities for school groups at the wetland of Brauron in Attica, events offering information regarding bird migration and poaching in the Ionian islands, as a part of the program "Safe Shelter for Wild Birds" in the presence of the local and hunting community.
More than 250 people that participated in the events had the opportunity to observe migratory birds that have reached Greek wetlands such as black-winged stilts, little egrets, grey herons, terns, lesser kestrels, glossy ibises, storks, common shelducks etc.
Lake Karla
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Sani, Halkidiki
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Brauron
These events took place in the area of Karla in collaboration with the Management Body of Karla Montenegro-Kefalovrysos Velestinou and the support of volunteers of the HOS from Larissa and Volos and in the area of Sani, Halkidiki with the collaboration of Sani Resort.
It should be noted that the World Migratory Bird Day was institutionalized in 2006 in Kenya and the scheduled events were supported by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA)-two intergovernmental agreements for the protection of wildlife, managed by the United Nations Programme for the Environment (UNEP).
This year, in particular, our events were supported by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) through an innovative program whose aim is to promote sustainable tourism for about 1 billion people traveling for pleasure every year.