The Macedonian Ecological Society (MES), at Tuesday’s meeting with representatives of relevant institutions in the Demirkapija region, marked the beginning of the international project called “Complete restoration of the griffon vulture population on the Balkan Peninsula and creation of sustainable capacities for its long-term protection throughout the region”.
“This story does not begin now, but is based on long-term efforts to monitor and preserve the griffon vulture population in Macedonia, which in the 1980s numbered around 40 breeding pairs,” said MES deputy director Metodija Velevski, recalling that poisoning is the key reason that led to the extinction of two of the four vulture species that used to fly over Macedonian territory.
MES project coordinator Slave Nakev briefly presented how the activities are expected to proceed in the next six years. He underlined that the successful implementation of such a large-scale undertaking requires continuous and dedicated cooperation of all stakeholders at the national and local levels, as well as building and maintaining state capacities to deal with poisoning cases, which should be treated as criminal offenses.
According to Jovan Andevski from the Swiss Foundation for Vulture Protection, which will lead and coordinate the implementation of the project, this project is of immense importance for the country.
“Such a project has not been implemented for any species in the country so far. There are numerous such success stories at the international level that clearly confirm that the most important factor for the protection of vultures is precisely people, and especially the local population and livestock farmers with whom these birds are very closely related,” said Andreski.
