Armenia, Presentation "Energy - make it bird-friendly!" at basic school in Yerevan (May 9) and Birdwatching at Armash IBA (May 10), (c) ASPB

*Celebrating World Migratory Bird Day in Armenia!*

 

*Armenian Society for the Protection of Birds*

(BirdLife

Affiliate Partner) continues its old tradition of celebrating the World

Migratory Bird Day in Armenia (WMBD). ASPB organised various events

including presentations, quizzes and games to address the theme of

preventing threats for the migrating birds.

 

This year, on May 9, we joined all bird lovers celebrating this marvelous

day by involving Vrezh Hambardzumyan Basic School No. 17 in Yerevan in the

presentation called "WMBD: Energy - make it bird-friendly!". Schoolchildren

were highly interested in this vital topic and they were curiously

following the entire lecture. Our staff members firstly explained the

phenomenon of migration and discussed all factors that affect the process

of bird migration. Particularly the threats of solar panels, wind farms and

voltage power lines as well as the urban artificial night lighting were

highlighted, which have already caused mass death to birds. The aim of the

event was not only to inform the schoolchildren about the vulnerable

situation of birds, but also to encourage them to come up with correct

solutions of solving this critical issue by themselves. To our surprise,

children demonstrated an unbelievable activity and with a great enthusiasm

shared their ideas. They also took part in some quizzes and games related

to the topic where the best participants were awarded.

 

On the following day, on May 10, ASPB celebrated the WMBD with the German

tourists at Armash IBA and Aragats Mountain. There are high voltage

electric pylons in both areas, which every year cause the death of many

birds, mostly raptors and soaring birds such as White Storks. During the

tour, the participants were informed about the migration barriers in

Armenia, with special highlights of the energy sources. In addition, they

shared the experience of Germany in making the energy more bird-friendly,

highlighting the work done by NABU (BirdLife partner in Germany). The

latter can be very useful in future when new approaches of protecting birds

from uninsulated electricity pylons can be realised.

 

Armenian Society for the Protection of Birds thanks the WMBD team for the

initiation of the event as well as for providing the supporting materials.

We hope next year we will manage to organise large-scale events that would

cover more parts of our country.

Done