News

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Early spring surprises from IBA Lower Vardar

During regular fieldwork activities in the scope of the “One Flew Over the Storks Nest” project we encountered two interesting bird sightings in the Lower Vardar river IBA. The first surprise was the White Storks pair in the village Bogorodica. According to the locals the pair was first noted in January and has stayed in the village ever since. We suspect that the pair didn’t migrate and has survived feeding in the adjacent wetlands and dumpsites, or stayed in the warmer parts of Greece. Such…

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The largest Balkan lynx captured in Mavrovo National Park

This weekend marked the capture of another Balkan lynx individual, near the village Sence, Mavrovo National Park, sixth in a row ever since the research inception in 2010 using radio-telemetry and GPS tracking by the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES). It should be underlined that the lynx, provisionally named B8, is the record-holder for the largest Balkan lynx individual ever to be captured for scientific study. Weighing twenty-seven kilograms, this individual is a real-life “beast”. –This…

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World Wetlands Day – Prespa Lake in focus

We celebrated the World Wetlands day on the 4 th of February in Resen, jointly with the Municipality of Resen. This year we organized educational activities for the youngest students in the kindergarten in Jankovec. We conducted experiments which explain how feathers provide insulation and introduced the students to the most important wetland bird species from their region. These birds are indicators of climate change and they are in the focus of World Wetland Day. A connection to nature needs…

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Informative signboard installed in Mariovo

The Macedonian Ecological Society today installed a signboard under the “Egyptian Vulture New LIFE” project (LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874). The content of the signboard is educational, and it contains information about the species ecology, distribution, interesting facts and the threats that the bird is experiencing. Mariovo with its unique geographic and climatic features has arguably the most suitable habitats for survival of this species in Macedonia, but at the same time this is where Vulture…

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A new winter Balkan Lynx monitoring session has started

Balkan lynx monitoring activities were initiated with the installing of the first box-traps in the National Park Mavrovo. The team of the Balkan Lynx Recovery Program along with the employees of the national park faced real challenges to set up the box-traps given the unfavorable weather conditions and the inaccessible terrain. However, persistence and enthusiasm won and we currently have six active box-traps and hope for a new lynx to be captured and tracked.          …

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International Waterfowl Census (IWC) 2019

For ten years now, on the weekend of 12 and 13 January 2019, MES employees and volunteers conducted bird counting on Macedonia’s three natural lakes, also including adjacent water reservoirs and wetlands. Despite the biting cold, the teams’ weather-defying spirit and enthusiasm made an enjoyable endeavour out of the International Waterfowl Census (IWC) in Macedonia, resulting in a total count of as much as 25.000 birds on Ohrid Lake and Prespa Lake, and round 6.000 birds on Dojran Lake. These…

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Promotion of the Conservation Action Plan for the Balkan Lynx in Mavrovo National Park

On 26 December 2018, the Conservation Action Plan (CAP) for the Balkan Lynx was presented in the Mavrovo National Park (MNP), foreseeing systematic activities for the conservation of Balkan lynx in the MNP area. Activities are financially supported by the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme, implemented by the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES) for twelve years now, and will be conducted in close cooperation with MNP until the end of 2020. The document was prepared and revised in the last five…

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Successful meeting between NP "Mavrovo and NP "Malet e Sharrit" in Kosovo

On 11 December 2018, a meeting took place on Shar Mountain in Kosovo among representatives of the Mavrovo National Park in Macedonia and the Sharri National Park in Kosovo, organised by the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES). The aim of this meeting was to present the work of MES regarding Balkan lynx conservation and the initial results from the monitoring of chamois in the Mavrovo National Park, conducted in cooperation with park employees. Participants exchanged views about future…

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Second European Mammal Atlas

Published in 1999 and with more than 450 citations on the Web of Science, the first edition of the European Mammal Atlas has become one of the most cited books on mammals in Europe. The need for a new edition became obvious in 2015 due to the fact that many studies contributed to the increased knowledge about mammals at European level, and also considering that the European part of Russia was included in the project too. The new edition is due with publication in 2024, exactly 25 years after…

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Leaflet for bike trails on Osogovo mountain

As part of the project "Supporting a sustainable future for people and nature in the Osogovo mountain", as a result from the component for development of sustainable tourism in the region three leaflets for bike trails were made. The leaflets are available on the following links: Easy trаil Medium and hard trаil Bike trail - Ponikva

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Transboundary Summer School "Nature interpretation and Environmental Education" in Prespa, Albania

From 17 th - 21 st September, students from the three countries sharing the Prespa region came together in Albanian Prespa to learn about “Nature Interpretation and Environmental Education in Prespa”. The Transboundary Summer School organized by PrespaNet members – Macedonian Ecological Society (MES), Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA) and the Society for the Protection of Prespa (SPP), took the students through series of outdoor and indoor sessions that…

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Egyptian Vultures numbers still dropping in Macedonia

The intensive monitoring activities of the known Egyptian Vulture’s territories were restarted this year by the Macedonian Ecological society within the project “Egyptian Vulture new LIFE” financed by the LIFE program from the European Union (LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874) . Sadly, our expectation was confirmed. The results from this year’s monitoring suggest that the population of the Egyptian Vulture in Macedonia is still in decline. This year marks the all-time low, with 13-14 pairs recorded…

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