The counting of the White Stork has been organized since 1930, and is done once every decade and over forty countries participate in it. The stork is one of the birds, which lives closest to people, and is a sensitive indicator for the state of the environment. Where there are more white storks, there are more and cleaner wetlands and agricultural land has less pesticides. The counting is conducted two consecutive summers. The seventh edition started in the summer of 2014 and continues this summer – from the middle of June to the middle of July. Teams of more than 150 volunteers will take part, coordinated by BSPB, as well as by the Executive Environment Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Waters, which is also a partner to the initiative.
For the first time the International Counting of the Stork is open for participation to the public at large. With the development and access to modern mobile technologies, each of us is able to become a part of similar large-scale scientific research. This method for participation of common people in the gathering of scientific data is called citizen science and is tested for the first time in Bulgaria.
The civic participation in the VIIth International Counting of the White Stork is coordinated by BSPB within the framework of the project “In search of the stork: Science for the citizens in action”, financed by the Program for Support of NGOs in Bulgaria under the EIP financial mechanism, www.ngogrants.bg .
In order to facilitate the participation of common people and to render it accessible to children as well, BSPB developed the site www.shturkel.bg, in which the data from the counting can be recorded in a simplified online form. The site is accessible from a desktop computer as well as from a tablet. The other easy way for recording data of stork nests is through the mobile application SmartBirds Pro, which was specially developed by the experts of BSPB for recording data from field observations. The application can be downloaded free from Google Play (for devices with Android operation system) and can be used for easy automatic download of GPS coordinates and uploading photos and so on.
In order to stimulate civic participation, BSPB organized a competition within the framework of the project “In search of the stork”. Prizes will be given away to participants in the international counting in a few categories: Most counted nests, Most attractive photo/video of stork nest, Most detailed research, Prize for nest rescuer. See more at www.shturkel.bg/bg/Konkurs.html
Within the framework of the project, BSPB has issued a Handbook for Civic Participation in the International Counting of the White Stork with instructions how we can join the counting. It will be distributed with the assistance of mayors in towns and villages, where more storks can be observed, and with the help of local groups, teachers, clubs and eco clubs.
Last summer over 250 volunteers, citizens and BSPB staff participated in the initiative, and they succeeded to count a total of 1932 stork nests in 45 municipalities in the regions of Ruse, Veliko Tarnovo, Vratsa, Burgas, Varna, Haskov, Yambol, Sliven, Plovdiv, Montana and Kyustendil. The number of the successfully raised little ones during the summer of 2014 was 3923.
Through the electronic platform www.shturkel.bg were counted over 450 nests, see the map at: http://www.shturkel.bg/bg/counting-form.html?showmap=1&year=2014
VIIth International Counting of White Stork Starts in June
