On 19-21 September, Estonia hosted a special LIFE platform meeting: “Volunteering for Nature Conservation”. The main organiser was the wetland conservation project “LIFE Mires Estonia”, which is coordinated by the Estonian Fund for Nature. The three-day event brought together more than sixty participants from sixteen European countries.
The main objective of the LIFE platform meeting was to share experience between LIFE projects and to identify what is important for increasing the impact of volunteers on nature conservation.
The project “LIFE for Danube Sturgeons” was presented by Inna Hoch, WWF Ukraine, ichthyologist and coordinator of the volunteer programme “Sturgeon Watchers” in Ukraine.
Inna highlighted the work with volunteers in the two missions held in 2017 and 2018 – “Our volunteer programme is quite unique for the Danube Delta, as it aims to include the public in the protection of the endangered wild sturgeons. We trained “Sturgeon Watchers” volunteers in monitoring of sturgeon feeding and spawning sites on the Danube river”- says Inna Hoch
“At the sessions and workshops held during the LIFE platform meeting, the participants shared different experiences in working with volunteers, offered lessons on attracting, motivating and utilising volunteers. And after these three days, I am more confident that we can create a whole movement of future Sturgeon Watchers in Ukraine”, added Inna.
Read more about the second “Sturgeon Watchers” volunteer mission.
Watch the video presentation of the “Sturgeon Watchers” in Ukraine.