Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Actions for biodiversity in Gotse Delchev region – Gotse Delchev Municipality Galena Veleva – project coordinator The Project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by national funds of the countries participating in the INTERREG V-A “Greece-Bulgaria 2014-2020” Cooperation Programme. Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Gotse Delchev municipality – presentation of the region Geographical location - The area of Gotse Delchev is an interesting mosaic of different types of relief - three high mountains - western Rhodopi, southeastern part of Pirin and the northern Slavyanka, the vast Nevrokopi valley and the river Mesta-Nestos. Plant world - The region of Gotse Delchev has an extremely rich and diverse vegetation with a significant participation of Mediterranean species - there are large areas of forest of over 40 Balkan and Bulgarian endemic plants. Animal world - the fauna is also characterized by great richness and diversity of species. The most common are wild pig, red deer and roe deer, wolf, jackal and fox. There are also bears, but very few. Wild goats, rabbits and squirrels are very common. There are many species of birds and most of them are protected by law. The larger Pirin and Rhodope rivers, as well as in Mesta, are rich in fish. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Gotse Delchev municipality – presentation of the region Protected natural sites and places – Pirin National Park has been declared a park of national and international importance in order to preserve the unique ecosystems in Northern Pirin. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. There is also Orelyak Nature Reserve, natural landmarks and 5 protected areas. Pictures - Lake Okoto, grey wolf and yellow tintyava Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Participation of Gotse Delchev municipality in the project BIO-INNOVATE The project envisages several main activities for protection of biodiversity in the region: ❖ Development of environmental educational material ❖ Information campaign in schools ❖ Social Media Campaigns ❖ Creation of Info and educational center in Pirin mountain ❖ Creating content for a smartphone application ❖ Software ❖ Equipment Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Environmental educational material Currently, educational content is being developed for printing a booklet for students up to 7th grade in the field of biodiversity conservation with the main goal of creating bio behavior in children, love of nature, raising awareness about its conservation. The book contains educational material with drawings and animations about biodiversity, color illustrations for different ecosystems in Bulgarian. The main purpose of the booklet is: ➢ To provide precise information on biodiversity and ecosystems in the region of Gotse Delchev; ➢ To stimulate creation of connections and personal attitude to the natural values of the region in the target group; ➢ To encourage active involvement with aim of nature protection by the target group; Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Information campaign in schools An information campaign will be conducted in local schools to promote the value and benefits of biodiversity conservation. This includes holding three consecutive events in primary schools in Gotse Delchev region with 50 children in each event within 1 day; Lecturer prepares all necessary materials on the topic of conservation and protection of biological diversity and natural resources - lectures, presentations, interactive games, competitions, etc.; Students will be given hats, T- shirts, cups, pads and pens. Sufficient publicity will be provided to the campaign through appropriate publications before and after each event; Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Social Media Campaigns For the purposes of the project, a short film of up to four minutes will be shot, reflecting the main objectives of the project - protection of the environment and biodiversity, as well as the achieved results with subtitles of EN / GR / BG. There will be an online campaign to promote the video created for information purposes. This includes posting it on social media, relevant sites and on the YouTube video sharing channel. Publish the video in a minimum of 6 different sites in order to reach the maximum number of audiences. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Creation of content for a smartphone application As part of the project activities, a mobile application will be developed, which should be a hybrid between a role-playing and a computer game. Objects of this game are animals: deer, wild horse, wolf, bear and lynx - big wild cat The app will demonstrate to users the way deer, wild horse, wolf, bear and lynx perceive the environment, simulating their senses, sight and hearing using multimedia and Virtual Reality technologies. In addition, users will be able to see through the eyes of the selected animal and hear through their ears using a technique that simulates the animal's senses. Thus, the application will realistically present the life of the selected species. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Creation of content for a smartphone application The application will also use a 3D audio mechanism and 3D images of areas from ​​Gotse Delchev on the Bulgarian side and Prosochani on the Greek side. The consumer will make a number of decisions through which his animal will maintain the balance of the local environment. In this regard, the municipality of Gotse Delchev will create the following: ❖ 10 scenarios representing the behavior of the five species of animals - wild horse, deer, bear, wolf, lynx. Each script includes a story and text; ❖ Development of at least 15 3D-models of the 5 species of animals; ❖ Creation of 360 degree 30 panoramic photos needed for the developed scenarios; ❖ Creation of 20 aerial panoramic photos; ❖ A lot of 3D terrain models - reproduction of the flora and landscape of the desired area. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Creation of Info and educational center in Pirin mountain Info and education center will be created in existing building in Pirin mountain on altitude of 1400 m. Activities include major repairs to the building, purchase of equipment and furniture and creating content for software to be used in the center. After the major repairs the walls of the Center are planned to be covered with printed illustrations with information related to the environment, graphics, diagrams, photos of places and species. Appropriate furniture of the center will be provided - table, chairs, benches and also various educational equipment: 7 Tablets, 24 Smartphones with hit resistant cases, 2 Touchscreens, 3 Small Footprint PCs, one ultra short focus projector and 20 virtual reality devices. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border mountainous areas of Bulgaria and Greece: Innovative approaches to estimate monitor and protect biodiversity in local ecosystems Creation of Info and educational center in Pirin mountain Important for the functioning of the center is the development of content for applications - Biodiversity and area study with Quick Response Codes The equipment in the center will allow visitors to use these applications for educational purposes. Content of the applications: • Animated info-graphics and diagrams that can present scientific information in a more fun way. The user will be able to learn about the size of the populations and the distribution of deer in the Bulgarian territory, by viewing attractive animated diagrams that "come to life" on the screen of the given mobile device. Project BIO-INNOVATE Fauna Assessment and management to safeguard Biodiversity in cross - border