pdf Nesting in the Arctic and inspiring children in the Mediterranean: How the Lesser White-fronted Goose flew in the Greek schools and became a symbol for cooperation, success and hope. Popular

Evgenia Panoriou
Hellenic Ornithological Society / BirdLife Greece
Vougioukalou, Manolia, Hellenic Ornithological Society/BirdLife Greece, Athens, Greece

The critically endangered Fennoscandian population of the Lesser White-fronted Goose – LWfG spends ca. 6 months in Greece during winter. In order to foster responsible citizenship behaviour for the environment and to contribute to the international conservation efforts for the LWfG, a comprehensive Environmental Education Programme –EEP was created and implemented by schools.

The LWfG was used as a tool and symbol to pedagogically approach the value of biodiversity by also highlighting the global perspective of losing a threatened species. The main actions towards the achievement of that were the creation of educational material for three age groups, material evaluation and teacher training; and field trips in LWfG habitats. The structure, the variety of the material and the engagement of the local educational community resulted in the engagement of ca. 6,000 pupils and the production of various school projects that underlined the LWfG threats during migration, such as illegal killing and habitat loss.

The EEP contributes directly to the implementation of the Arctic Migratory Bird Initiative (AMBI), in which the LWfG is prioritized as a flagship species, can also be replicated for other AMBI species and is relevant to Key Finding 3 and Policy Recommendation 8 of the Arctic Biodiversity Assessment.