Our organization, this summer successfully completed the awareness raising and information campaign about the protection for the vultures of Thrace, entitled “The vultures of Thrace in the focus” aiming to protect these rare and important species. The initiative involved 7 schools, 241 students and 28 teachers who had the opportunity to learn all about the need for protection of vultures and their importance for the ecosystem.

The vultures are valuable cleaners of nature and they play a crucial role in the conservation of the ecosystems contributing to public health by preventing the spread of diseases exterminating dead animals that could become source of infection. Despite their importance, they are threatened by human activities like poison baits, impact on electricity infrastructure, loss of food and degradation of their natural environment.

Through our activity, the students were informed, puzzled and proposed solutions on how we can all contribute to the protection of vultures. The children's response and interest filled us with optimism and confirmed the value of environmental education, proving that the younger generation is the hope for a more sustainable future. Students and teachers brought up ideas for the safe management of poisoned baits, the creation of protection areas and the strengthening of actions to restore the natural habitats of vultures.

We would like to thank the directors and teachers of Soufli, Tychero and Iasmos high schools and Soufli, Tychero and Sidiro primary schools for embracing this initiative. Their cooperation was crucial for the success of the action and enhances our belief that environmental education is one of the most powerful pillars for the protection of our planet.

The protection of the vultures of Thrace is not the responsibility of a few - it is the responsibility of all of us.

For the implementation of the action, the Society for the Protection of Thrace is cooperating with the Hellenic Ornithological Society in the framework of the LIFE-IP 4 NATURA project entitled “Integrated Actions for the Conservation and Management of NATURA 2000 Sites, Species, Habitats and Ecosystems in Greece (LIFE16 IPE/GR/000002)”.