Sundays with nature
With a winter outing, this year’s SUNDAYS WITH NATURE came to a close, an initiative that began last year with the goal of exploring our villages and the nature that surrounds them, whether via organized hiking trails or rural and forest roads. 92 participated in the excursions from Nea Vissa, Orestiada, Kavili, Thourio, Didimotycho, Soufli, Kornofolia, Feres, Alexandroupoli and Komotini.
We set off on 3 May on a ‘safari’ to spot birds of prey, which was nothing more than a ‘hunt’ for sightings using binoculars and telescopes in the valley below the Lyra Dam, a place teeming with birds of prey. Along the way, as well as identifying various species, we had the opportunity to discuss the threats they face, such as the illegal use of poisoned bait, collisions with wind turbines and power lines, and forest fires.
On 17 May, we continued our survey of wildlife around Diavolorema, a stream near Dadia, which was interrupted by an unexpected spring rainfall and resumed on 31 May, when we managed to complete the entire route around the stream. Mammal tracks, passerine birdwatching, amphibians’ sounds, identification of farmland shrubs and a crossing of the stream were the highlights of the excursion.
We finished on 8 November, walking through walking through a landscape of fields and woodland near Dadia, with a focus on the place-names that highlight the nature, the history and the people of our region, whilst also connecting with nature through our senses by making a necklace from natural materials along the way, giving us the chance to enjoy the autumn colours, to touch berries, prickly bushes and beautiful leaves.
Agri-forest ecosystems were the focus of our excursions this year, in places where biodiversity is abundant and the landscapes are magically ‘painted’ by the hand of the farmer. These are the ecosystems that are being lost as the countryside is abandoned, and they urgently need to be preserved.
We hope we have achieved our aim: to give local residents the opportunity to take a breather from their hectic daily lives and to tune into the natural environment around them, which they so desperately need. We would like to thank the participants who honoured us with their presence at all our excursions; some of them now form the core of our group, having taken part in most of them.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Birdwing and ATE OD-GE for their donation, which enabled us to organise ‘Sundays with Nature’.
EN 
EL