The Bonelli’s Eagle meets the Students’ Action Team for its protection in the Peloponnese
The Environmental Education Team of the Hellenic Ornithological Society visited six schools of the Peloponnese, to introduce students to their feathered neighbor: the Bonelli’s Eagle! More specifically, between 30th of January and 3rd of February 2023, our team visited five Primary schools and one High school, reaching a total of 460 children who became members of the Students’ Action Team for the Bonelli’s Eagle and took part in the Programme’s environmental education activities.
The welcome of the fearless Mediterranean eagle by the schools of the area was extremely warm and enthusiastic. Through experiential activities, the children learned about the dangers that the Bonelli’s Eagle faces and the actions implemented in the framework of LIFE Bonelli eastMed Program for the species’ protection in Greece and in other areas of the eastern Mediterranean, but most importantly, they learned how wecan all contribute to its protection.
But, what could a child do for such an imposing bird of prey, like the Bonelli’s Eagle? But, of course, they can start by talking to everyone about it and… who knows?, This eagle might even become a local Star!
Our first “stop” was the Primary School of Petrina. While there, together with the 10 pupils of the school, we played the floor game about the adventures young Bonelli’s eagles face and we rolled the dice, in order to see whether the young ones will manage to reach adulthood or not.
Our next stops included the 1st and the 3rd Primary schools of Gytheio, the Primary school of Areopolis and the Primary school of Geraki. In all the Primary schools mentioned above, the activities were divided according to the cognitive level and fine motor skills of each age group, whereas all the selected activities were from the “Bonelli’s Eagle: the eagle of the Mediterranean” educational material created for the LIFE Bonelli estMed Program. Children from the 1st and 2nd grades of the Primary schools, were encouraged to create a face mask and ‘see’ through the eyes of a Bonelli’s eagle and the eyes of its favorite food, the partridge. In this way, children learned about the agony of hunting for food but in a different way. On the other hand, children from the 3rd and 4th grades of these Primary schools learned about the morphological characteristics of the Bonelli’s eagle by making a figure (mobile), and then they continued to create the species’ food networks.
Last but not least, children from the 5th and 6th grades of these Primary schools were invited to play the Bonelli’s Eagle floor game in the schoolyard, an experience that allowed them to discover all the factors which affect -either positively or negatively- the survival of a young Bonelli’s Eagle until its adulthood, and also about the lethal dangers these birds face. Each activity, was preceded by an educational presentation, titled “Bonelli’s Eagle: the eagle of the Mediterranean”, which was presented in a less formal but, rather, in a more vivid and playful way, in order to encourage the children to feel comfortable to participate in the discussion and express any of their questions.
Our last “stop” was the Poulimenkio High school in Geraki, where we had the pleasure not only to meet with all the children but, also, to have very interesting discussions and play the Bonelli’s Eagle floor game together.
The wish and the aim of all members of the Students’ Action Team for the Bonelli’s Eagle is for the eagles to become renowned but mainly, they hope their population grows and all next generations can fledge and fly safely in the Peloponnese, just like the members of the Students’ Action Team for their protection do!
All students received the educational materials of the LIFE Bonelli eastMed Program, designed and created with the contribution of the European Union’s LIFE financial instrument and co-funded by the Green Fund and the A.G. Leventis Foundation.
