Hi all! I’m writing from Tutrakan, located in northwest Bulgaria at the Danube River. I am here to participate in a volunteer camp to restore and build platforms for the Pelican colonies that nest here. I am sent from GSV to help out another Bulgarian NGO that focuses on nature conservation for birds – BSPB and present to the organizers and volunteers what GSV is and talk about some of the projects and activities.
Unrelated to this volunteer event earlier this week we met with a friend of Mihaela and Filip who works with BSPB. They have previously worked together on a project regarding bird conservation in agricultural landscapes by implementing more sustainable practices and educating locals on the connection between birds’ biodiversity and the overall health of the environment.
We met with Stoyan to discuss an upcoming interview with him where I’ll tell you more about his work and what I learned from our conversations. He is an incredibly knowledgeable person who is passionate about nature and its conservation. I myself as an ecology student and an aspiring environmentalist am very grateful anytime I have an opportunity to meet and talk with someone like Stoyan who has invested so much in learning about the natural world and more importantly, fighting to protect it.
Back to volunteering now! It’s a 5-hour from Sofia to Tutrakan (north-east Bulgaria), but we took a while longer as we encountered some problems with the car. One time we had to push the car in order to start the engine and the second time we had to ask people on the road to give us a charge from their car. A bit late we arrived at the site near the Danube River where we had to transport timber material to the platforms for the pelicans. Before starting work we enjoyed the last watermelons for the season straight from the field.
We had two platforms to repair and two new ones to construct. There was a truckload of wooden boards and beams bought with donations that we had to move from the truck to a tractor. It was hard work, but fortunately, we had numbers on our side and we quickly transported the material to the old platforms.
After the material was unloaded and placed where it would be needed we had several tasks before we could start work on the platforms. First, the old platforms needed to be cleaned. A year’s worth of pelican droppings mixed with the reeds we put there for them to be more comfortable and recreate their natural habitat. Then measurements had to be made for the new platforms starting off with the vertical beams that would be slammed into the ground with massive hammers. Lastly, new reeds had to be cut, gathered, and tied with rope into bundles. We divided into teams and started with the work.
On Thursday we only had time for the transportation and placement of the material. I presented to the group GSV and talked about the team and some of the projects. On Friday we were done with the first new platform. It was a long day and we worked until dusk to make use of the sunlight. By the way, we were very very lucky with the weather. During the day it felt like summer under the blue sky and bright sun. And it’s the end of October already with temperatures going under zero Celsius during the night. Only the reeds had to be finished and placed on top of it. On Saturday we were mostly finished, but we ended the day early. The man in whose house we were staying at. He prepared us fish soup and baked fish from the Danube River. It was delicious and we heard many stories from our host about the Town, its history, and the fisherman life on the river.
Sunday was the final day. We could only stay until midday since we had a 5-6 hour drive to Sofia. We had to go back in time for the elections. But until the rest of the day, the construction was finished and only the cameras remained to be installed.
