Second Year of the Project and Consortium Meeting in Dubrovnik
The LIFE for Mauremys project has reached the halfway point of its planned duration, and partners gathered for a consortium meeting held from October 21 to 23, 2024, at the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Center for Entrepreneurship.
With minimal delays in implementing a some of the activities, we have taken steps to ensure that all project goals are achieved. Over the past year, as we approach the end of 2024, the project has recorded new results:
- An ecological corridor has been established beneath the road that separates two ponds in the Majkovi Herpetological Reserve.
- During the nesting season, we began monitoring the use of repellents in cooperation with agricultural landowners in Konavle, Ston, and Majkovi to reduce wild boar damage.
- Priority locations are identified and activities for freshwater habitat management are underway in the Ston and Konavle fields.
- A methodology using eco-friendly materials has been developed for removing invasive aquatic plants and controlling succession in the project area's ponds. Instead of conventional black plastic sheeting, a biodegradable felt made from 100% Croatian wool will be used.
- Final tests for a "turtle-friendly" fishing fyke net design have been completed, and the registration process for a free industrial design and brand has begun.
- Soil analyses confirmed that the nests of the Balkan Terrapin in the project area are not threatened by pesticide residues, heavy metals, PAH, and PCB pollutants, and the agricultural parcels where they are located show promising indicators for sustainable plant production.
- New Balkan Terrapin hatchlings have successfully hatched at the Zagreb Zoo as part of the assisted breeding program, with the first nest laid by a mother from the Ston field.
- Spring and summer monitoring of Balkan Terrapins, entomofauna, and herpetofauna was conducted in the project area.
- The project design plan for the restoration of the Ston pond, intended to receive Balkan Terrapin hatchlings at the project’s end, has been completed, and a public procurement process for the designed works has been initiated.
- Cameras have been installed in Majkovi, capturing Balkan Terrapins basking as well as threats such as wild boars and the presence of mongooses.
- Samples of foreign and invasive freshwater species have been collected for pathogen analysis.
- A contract has been signed with a contractor to establish a Point for Temporary Freshwater Turtle Reception and Volunteer Training.
- A two-day seminar on sustainable agriculture, “ECO Innovations for Small Production Areas,” was held.
- The second Mauremys Day was celebrated at the Zagreb Zoo, accompanied by an art exhibition and the debut of the project mascot, Mara the Balkan Terrapin.
- The first Mediterranean Wetland Week was celebrated in Majkovi.
- Collaboration began with the Šipan Summer Film School, whose students created a short film as a template for the first cartoon about the Balkan Terrapin.
- A picture book by illustrator Andijana Rico and the Croatian Waters educational team, in collaboration with Association Hyla, has been completed and will soon be promoted in schools across Croatia.
- An educational memory game was designed and produced.
- Our traveling exhibition will soon visit around thirty primary and secondary schools in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
- We presented project results nationally and internationally, including at the LIFE Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Platform Congress, a workshop in Piran, the European Conference on Ecological Restoration, the “Water for All” conference, and others.
Our activities have been covered by various Croatian media, including:
Index: In Zagreb, 28 Balkan Terrapin hatchlings bred for the Dubrovnik-Neretva County
Konavle Museum and Gallery Blog: Let's Protect the Balkan Terrapin
Eko Zona: Balkan Terrapin Feature
With the consortium's commitment to the contracted project goals and to the conservation of the Balkan Terrapin's habitats, plans have also begun for activities needed to ensure the species' preservation in Croatia and beyond after the project concludes in fall 2026.
