We’re looking for volunteers for Autumn 2024
After successfully finishing another crowdfunding campaign, we’re happy to announce the call for counters. We have now opened the application form and are looking for counters to join us between August 12th and October 21st, 2024. As always, we are looking for volunteers of all skill levels with an interest in migration, the ability to work in a team, and the possibility to commit for at least two weeks. Joining our count as a counter is a great opportunity to learn more about raptors and their identification, while also contributing to long-term population monitoring. Volunteers will stay at one of the local guesthouses and enjoy the passage of over 1 million birds of prey together with other likeminded volunteers from all over the world. The daily fee depends on the length of your stay and ranges between €12 and €24. Students can pay a discounted fee and Georgian counters can join for free (limited places available).
Education activities are kicking off
After publishing our new education booklet this past autumn, our education initiative is kicking into high gear this spring! Thanks to our motivated and dedicated partners in crime Elza Makaradze, Dachi Shoshitashvili, and Nature Conservation Georgia, we’ve organized engaging activities at over a dozen schools across the Batumi bottleneck region. We’re pulling out all the stops to inspire and empower educational institutions to launch Bird Clubs. With both the workshops and our education booklet, we aim to foster a deeper connection between children and nature.
Over the past weeks, Elza and Dachi organised a workshop attended by 21 teachers from the Kobuleti municipality. In addition, Dachi spent a week visiting 12 schools in the region, with a total of 293 students and 53 teachers attending the activities.
The initiative, funded by the British Bird Charitable Trust (BBCT) and IJsvogelfonds, has been well received! Aside from distributing the education booklet and collaborating with schools, we will expand our activities during the Batumi Birdwatching Festival in 2024, demonstrating the project's success and potential impact on conservation in the Batumi bottleneck and beyond.
Follow our social media and keep an eye on the newsletter to stay tuned for more exciting updates as the year unfolds.
Mission accomplished: funding for the 2024 count is complete!
Since 2021 we’ve been constantly running crowdfunding campaigns to be able to fund our autumn counts, much-needed equipment, and other practical aspects of our monitoring and conservation efforts. Thanks to your generosity and support, we’ve been able to meet our crowdfunding targets each year. But there’s more. We're happy to share the incredible news that thanks to the leftover money of the 2023 Autumn count and the donations that have been consistently coming in, we have already raised 24.088 euros! This means that we already have the budget to run the 2024 Autumn count!
Having the funding completed this early is a huge relief for us! It means that we can start organizing the ‘24 count right away and allocate more time to our additional research and education activities! These projects have always been a significant part of our organization and conservation aim in the flyway. To stay up-to-date about our projects please subscribe to our newsletter.
We are grateful for this breathing room, which was only possible because of all the generous donors. A big thank you to every one of you! If you’d still like to support our project, please visit our crowdfunding page. Each euro that’ll not be spent this year, will be used for the 2025 Autumn count.