Closing venue

The Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia (BSPSB) organized the closing venue of the project titled „Conservation Management and Animal Health Monitoring of Natura 2000 species” Hungary-Serbia IPA Cross-Border Programme on the 23rd of September at the Royal Hotel of Senta, Serbia. 

The project was implemented in 15 months in close partnership of BSPSB from Serbia, MME/BirdLife Hungary, the Kiskunság National Park Directorate and the Körös-Maros National Park Directorate of Hungary. The total budget- co-financed by the Hungarian Government and the European Union-was close to 250 thousand Euros.

The main objective of the project was to get a better overview on the population size and extent of Rollers and Red-footed Falcons, and to aid the survival of these populations with artificial nesting sites where necessary. The long term objectives were to reach and sustain favourable conservation status of areas with significant natural heritage on both sides of the border. In practice this means to support already existing Natura 2000 sites in Hungary, and fundamenting the designation of these in Serbia. Thus, 4 organizations (3 from Hungary, and 1 from Serbia) aimed to implement a complex project targeting the conservation of two emblematic Natura 2000 species; the Red-footed Falcon and the Roller.

The conference commenced with József Gergely’s (president of Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia) and Gergő Halmos’s (director of MME/BirdLife Hungary) kind greeting words. Later on Mr. Gergely gave a detailed description on the structure and main results of the project concerning Red-footed Falcons. The next talk was given by Ottó Szekeres, who presented the numbers behind the population increase of Rollers increased in Serbia.

After a short break, Szabolcs Solt and dr. Béla Tokody showed the main results of the project concerning Red-footed Falcons and Rollers in Hungary.

Peter Fehérvári summarized the research objectives and results obtained within the project. Two main topics were addressed; 1. the results of the landscape scale modelling of suitable habitats for Red-footed Falcons in Serbia, and the animal health monitoring issues of high human risk pathogens and their potential effects on local inhabitants at the Vásárhelyi-Puszta, Hungary. Finally, dr. Sándor Fülöp, the Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Future Generations gave an interesting talk on the roles and potential of the NGOs in the field of nature conservation.