“Prevention is better than damage” was the message of this year’s school informative campaign, which aimed to highlight the importance of prevention in avoiding damage to farmers’ crops caused by wildlife (mammals and birds). Preventive measures reduce damage and benefit producers, on the one hand because they avoid losses of agricultural products, and on the other because they do not have to spend time chasing wild animals—whether to scare them off or to kill them—in the latter case, forcing them to break the law. Farmers who take preventive measures are leading the way in protecting biodiversity in their region.

The educational session in each classroom lasted two class periods and included a presentation and one interactive game in the classroom that simulated the use of preventive measures. A total of 11 schools participated, with 329 students and 41 teachers from the Evros and Rodopi prefectures.

With the help of the students, who contributed according to their level of knowledge, the presentation highlighted the damage that can be caused by wild animals such as wolves, jackals, stray dogs, wild boars, foxes, bee eaters and corvids, but also their ecological role in controlling populations of rodents, insects, and birds that, in turn, cause damage to agricultural production. Next, preventive measures were presented, starting with simple traditional methods and moving on to more effective measures that utilize technology, such as visual and acoustic wildlife deterrent systems, nets to protect fruit crops from birds, fencing, and shepherd guard dogs. The discussion also covered two human activities that contribute to the growth of populations of animals that cause damage. The first issue concerns the indiscriminate disposal of dead pets or farm animals in streams or illegal dumps, which serve as easy food for wild animals, resulting in an increase in their population and causing them to venture closer and closer to settlements, thereby simultaneously increasing the damage they cause. The second issue concerns the “misguided” love for animals, which leads some people to systematically feed wild mammals, either because they believe the animals are hungry or to take nice photos. However, this practice results, on the one hand, in these animals becoming accustomed to humans and, on the other hand, in their population multiplying, thus turning an act of love for animals into a chain of problems. Finally, we discussed the consequences of the illegal use of poisoned baits to kill wild animals.