Eagles Beyond Borders

The project focuses on the exploring the spread of eagle species, threats and people's attitudes towards them. The overall goal is to establish cross-border cooperation and build capacity for conservation of key species and identification and management of protected areas and Natura 2000 sites.
Within the project mapping the breeding sites and habitats of the globally threatened Imperial Eagle in Thrace and identification of possible Natura 2000 sites in Kırklareli and Edirne regions based on distribution of Imperial Eagle and other key species will be done. Campaigns for the conservation of Imperial Eagle nests will be organized in the provinces of Edirne and Kirklareli. A joint “Great Beach Cleaning” event will be held involving volunteer - youth who will also monitor the migration of birds in the cross-border area.
The implementation of the project will contribute to raising the environmental awareness of young people who will be engaged in clean-up activities for litter reduction.

Status of the project: completed

The project focuses on the Imperial eagle which is among the globally threatened species. It aims at the protection of threatened raptors and their habitats with the participation of young people and local citizens. To support the population of the Imperial eagle, which is on the top of the food chain, people were informed about bird species, habitats and bird migration, artificial nests for raptor species were built with the participation of volunteers and experts, catchup information meetings were carried out for farmers living in the region, landowners and local decision-makers and nest protection was organised. The project activities were carried out in collaboration with national and international organizations by building a joint cross-border network for sustainable protection between Turkey and Bulgaria. Through this network, conservation centres and good examples for raptor conservation activities in Bulgaria were examined on-site, waste mapping studies were carried out in wetlands, rivers and coastal areas and joint cleaning activities were carried out.

With the data obtained in the frame of the project and through online meetings organized with the support of academicians and experts, potential Natura 2000 sites for Imperial eagle in Turkey were identified and common monitoring and conservation approaches were unified.