“Let's protect gazelles!” 2021 ecological summer camp successfully concluded
On 28–30 July, another ecological summer camp titled “Let’s protect gazelles!” was held within the youth education and development direction of the program “Reintroduction of gazelles into the areas of their historical distribution in the Caucasus,” launched on the initiative of the Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of the IDEA Public Union Leyla Aliyeva. The camp, organized by the IDEA Public Union, the Youth Foundation of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijan office of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with the support of the Salyan District Executive Authority, brought together nearly 60 schoolchildren from the Salyan district.
The main purpose of the ecological summer camp “Let’s protect gazelles!” is to educate the younger generation living in areas where gazelles have been reintroduced, including localities close to their natural habitats, about this species.
On the first day of the camp, schoolchildren took part in presentations and training sessions on the lifestyle of gazelles, the history of their settlement in our country, the regions where they spread and their role in nature, as well as the work and achievements in restoring the population of this rare species. They also joined various ecological competitions and entertaining environmental knowledge contests.
On the second day of the camp, an excursion to Shirvan National Park was organized for the participants. The opportunity to observe the fauna and flora characteristic of the National Park’s territory, as well as its rich natural landscapes, using modern safari-type vehicles presented to contribute to the development of eco-tourism activities and improvement of the park’s infrastructure, was of particular interest to the schoolchildren. The participants also had the chance to observe gazelles listed in the “Red Book” of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On the final day of the camp, as part of a special project by the IDEA Public Union consisting of a series of documentary films about national parks, the films “Azerbaijan. Saving Gazelles” and “Shirvan National Park,” directed by Igor Byshnyov, were screened for the students. Later, inter-team ecological games were held in nature, exercises on identifying our fauna species based on their footprints were conducted, and safety rules in natural areas were explained. At the end, participants were presented certificates and souvenir gifts.
The program “Return of gazelles to the areas of their historical distribution in the Caucasus” was launched in 2010 by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and is currently being successfully implemented within the framework of joint cooperation between the IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and the WWF Azerbaijan office. Over the years, more than 150 gazelles have been reintroduced from Shirvan National Park to the areas of their historical distribution in Azerbaijan and Georgia, and their continuous monitoring and protection are being carried out. Although the program focuses on increasing and protecting the gazelle population, one of its main directions is enhancing public awareness. For this purpose, summer camps organized for schoolchildren hold great importance. It should be noted that, as a result of successful work in this field, the gazelle population in the Republic of Azerbaijan is currently estimated to have reached up to 7,000 individuals.
