In Andalusia, Spain, they even use helicopters to investigate suspicious bird mortality. An action that might seem unreal for other countries, but it’s actually just a tool and not the most important aspect in solving wildlife crime. What really matters in criminal investigations are the human resources, capacities and real engagement from the competent authorities.
Spain is leading the way when it comes to fighting wildlife crime. In the Balkans, it’s a different story, but there is hope. First of all, there has been some progress made over the past few years, especially in Bulgaria and Greece. Secondly, in exactly one week, the first Wildlife Crime Academy (WCA) course will commence in the hope to transfer Spanish expertise and raise capacities to the Balkans and beyond.
The problem of wildlife crime in the Balkans
Currently, capacities and law enforcement related to wildlife crime hold very low priority in most Balkan countries, so there are almost no convictions or minimal sentences executed. This means that wildlife criminals, such as people who place poison baits targeting animals, go unpunished, and continue their illegal activities with no consequences. The BalkanDetox LIFE project aims to make a change. For the past three years, the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF) has worked intensively alongside local NGOs and government authorities in Balkans on this issue through the Balkan Anti-Poisoning Project. Through this project, we identified the relevant representatives, prepared national road maps and established national working groups for anti-poison actions. This experience allows the BalkanDetox LIFE project to carry out the necessary awareness activities to position wildlife crime as a priority, and also organise the Wildlife Crime Academy, which is just around the corner!
First course of the Wildlife Crime Academy
Next Tuesday on 29 June 2021, conservation, police, toxicology and veterinary professionals from nine countries will come together in Cazorla, Spain, to attend the Wildlife Crime Academy’s BASIC level training. Wildlife crime specialists who amassed over 15 years of experience in the field across Europe developed the courses with the overarching goal to convert participants into experts of wildlife crime forensic and police investigation. When participants complete all three levels of the WCA over the coming years, they will be able to investigate wildlife crime from the early action and CSI to the final procedure at the Court. Overall, the Academy will reinforce operational capacities and coordinate institutional actions to increase detection and improve management of poisoning incidents, facilitate an immediate and effective response to such incidents as well as strengthen enforcement to deter criminal activities. Furthermore, WCA graduates will also become ambassadors, spreading awareness about the importance of tackling wildlife crime and implementing national courses for their courses to enhance impact.
As part of BalkanDetox LIFE, the Vulture Conservation Foundation will coordinate the Wildlife Crime Academy, which relies on the support of the Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía) and the Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico).
On 17th July at the Info-center on Ponikva we organized an event which was part of the European Green Belt initiative in order to award the Municipality of Kochani. This Municipality was awarded with the prestigious status of Green Belt Model Municipality among all municipalities in the Balkan Green Belt. The award was well deserved as this Municipality was exceptionally dedicated to nature and biodiversity conservation by supporting the establishment of a new protected area on the Osogovo Mountains.
Summary: Blueberries in Macedonia represent significant natural resource that provides additional income for number of people. However, the systems for collection, licensing, control and monitoring are still not well developed in most of the Republic of North Macedonia which puts pressure on natural habitats and wild species and leads to unsustainable use. The aim of this project is to assess the economic potential based on sustainable usage of bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus – European bilberry and Vaccinium uliginosum – Bog bilberry) on Kozuf Mtn., by intensive field assessment of annual production of fruits and leaves along with chemical characterization and analysis of the importance of bilberries for local population.
Summary: Scientific interest in cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) has grown exponentially in the last 30 years due to the discovery of beneficial phytochemicals along with the study of the human endocannabinoid system. Accordingly, changes in legislation were initiated to legalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Cannabis is a plant that was previously cultivated as an important industrial plant but can also be found as an autochtonous plant in North Macedonia. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is autochtonous cannabis in Macedonia and whether it is of commercial value, through localization of the areas where it grows, collection of 
plant material, and its morphological and phytochemical characterization. The obtained results will be properly disseminated and will contribute to the valorization of this plant and the development of awareness of the existence of indigenous cannabis in N. Macedonia, its importance and how to change the practice of its intentional destruction to its preservation.
Summary: Dryopteris is a cosmopolitan genus of ferns, which includes species with diverse habitat ranges and morphologies. Hybridization and apomixis are the main reasons for the origin of some species, morphologically separated by fine discrete characters (Fraser-Jenkins, 2007), which make the identification process particularly difficult. The project will provide data on the distribution and diversity of the genus Dryopteris on Kozhuf Mountain, through analysis of the morphological characteristics of the species and through analysis of the ornamentation and dimensions of the spores. This research is a continuation of two decades of efforts to confirm the presence of species and the published data on the genus on а national level (Melovski, 2016), where data on Drypoteris on Kozhuf were not included. This project is also a continuation of the taxonomic research of one of the most complex genera of ferns in Europe.
Summary: Wet meadows in Prespa are important ecosystems with specific biogeochemical processes that provide numerous ecosystem services: water purification, nutrient and mineral retention, carbon sequestration, rich biodiversity, etc. The main threats to these habitats come from agricultural activities, mainly through the transformation of wet meadows into arable land. The project will carry out experimental research in which the main focus will be the role of 
wet meadows in retaining nutrients and heavy metals from fertilizers used in agricultural production. In this way, the role of these habitats to serve as a filter for these substances that reach Lake Prespa will be emphasized, and thus the need for their appropriate management and protection in the protected area Nature Park “Ezerani”.
Summary: National parks represent particular sanctuaries for natural wonders which must be protected from the pernicious effects of humankind. This is achieved by constant monitoring of all described and valorized bio-geological resources. Thus, evaluations are required of all the macro-microscopic elements of these ecosystems. The “eyes of Pelister” are glacial lakes with little to no data regarding their microbial ecology. 
Microorganisms, members of these glacial ecosystems, hold key positions in the numerous biological and ecological processes (Liu et al., 2017; Liu et al., 2019). Glacial lakes are the most vulnerable elements of the biosphere, under constant erosion due to global climate changes (Jiang et al., 2019). The proposed project aims towards evaluating the heterotrophic microflora of these natural wonders, including potential anthropogenic contaminants, as functions of the physical parameters of the water and the seasonal variance in ecotope. The analysis of these unique lakes is of imperative magnitude in order to evaluate the vulnerability of these invaluable ecosystems.
Summary: Natural mineral and thermal springs are an underexplored wonder of invaluable eco-cultural value (Gorgieva and Popovski, 2007). These spring are often subject to extensive anthropogenic exploitation. Meanwhile, insignificant attention is allotted to the biodiversity of these natural treasures. Additionally, the degree of anthropogenic damage inflicted is seldom discussed outside the legislative limits of allowed contaminants. The goal of this project is to enact a thorough microbiological analysis of the mineral springs at Negorci, Proevce, Katlanovo, Stip and Debar. These particular geothermal-mineral springs represent 
notable cultural objects under intensive local usage. Ecologically there is currently great interest in the study of microorganisms that are able to live in extreme environmental conditions such as high temperatures and mineral concentrations. In addition, very little information about autochthonous microorganisms inhabiting such thermal waters presently exists in N. Macedonia (Sagova-Mareckova et al., 2021; Hui et al., 2021). The results may serve as specific pioneers for the category as well as cause for future conservation attempts.
On Monday, 30 November 2020, the BalkanDetox LIFE Kick-off Meeting brought together the nine project partners with many important stakeholders spread across the Balkans and other corners of the world to discuss the project scope, objectives, timeline, and everything in between. During the meeting, we started the initial discussions towards the establishment of the official working groups in each of the relevant Balkan countries, which is crucial to secure institutional cooperation and support for combating this illegal practice, as NGOs cannot fight this problem alone.
One of the most significant actions for next year are the meetings with relevant institutions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia to start the development of national standard operational protocols in the investigation of poisoning incidents.