Infoboards about the Saker falcon conservation installed in Romania

On 11th of April 2024, SOR team install the infoboards in Adamclisi and Saraiu, dedicated to the Saker falson and the implementation of the Life for Falcons project in the Aliman-Adamclisi and Stepa Saraiu–Horea Natura 2000 sites. The project's goal is to secure the conservation and restoration of this rare falcon species, classified as Vulnerable on the Romanian Red List of Threatened Species.

The action has been done in collaboration with the local administrations of Saraiu and Adamclisi, who offered us their support in identifying the proper location for the information boards, making sure that they are accessible not only to the local community, especially schoolchildren, but also to those passing by through these villages. Every board is placed in the village centre, in the proximity of the school and the mayor’s office, and we are thankful for the help of the local administrations in installing them.

Education is a key component in species conservation. In every conservation project implemented by our organisation, we give great importance to activities related to the education and informing of local communities and the larger public, raising their awareness of the problems faced by endangered species, but also helping them understand the values these species have for that location and for the living world. Thus, the boards were designed to attract attention and to present the information in a way that provokes curiosity and interest in finding out more about the Saker falcon, the biodiversity of these two protected areas and the aim of the project Securing the recovery of the endangered Saker Falcon in Bulgaria and Southern Romania .

Additionally, for a better understanding of the role and importance of the Saker falcon and of raptor species in an ecosystem, we chose to present an illustrated list of the birds of prey that are a common presence in the Romanian lowlands on one side of the board. Through this educational endeavour we aim that more and more people, and especially children begin to recognise these species when seeing them in flight or spotting them nearby, knowing and appreciating the diversity of the fauna and the uniqueness of each species.
We consider that the informational boards are more than a mark of the implementation of a conservation project. They are border stones that show the public the need for a common effort of the experts and the communities in order to not cross the line from where the conservation of the Saker falcon becomes impossible or only possible with a great cost.

  

  

Photos: SOR