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Hellenic Livestock Guarding Dog puppies were delivered to local stockbreeders
Hellenic Livestock Guarding Dog puppies were delivered to local stockbreeders (Photo: Melina Avgerinou)

On Friday November 1st, 2013, staff members of ARCTOUROS visited the project areas and delivered Hellenic Livestock Guarding Dog puppies as part of Action C.9. Hellenic Guarding Dogs have been successfully protecting livestock in the mountainous regions of our country for centuries and constitute an invaluable part of our cultural and natural heritage.

In cooperation with the Stockbreeder’s Association of Phthiotida and the Management Body of Oiti National Park, twelve 2-month-old puppies were delivered to stockbreeders in the villages of Zilefto, Spercheiada, Kenourgio, Herakleia, Eleftherochori, Argyrochori, Grameni, Trilofo and Kastania Ypatis. The President of the Association, Mr. Athanasios Asproulakis, attended the meetings of the ARCTOUROS staff and the local farmers.
Action C.9: Priority conservation actions for Ursus arctos* * 26/11/2013
Confirmation of the presence of Tengmalm’s Owl on Mt. Oiti
The site where the Tengmalm’s Owl was heard. (Photo: S. Tsekolev)

On November 6. 2013, the presence of the Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus) on Mt. Oiti was confirmed through Action A.9 fieldwork. The project’s ornithologist, accompanied by his colleagues E. Shogolev and S. Shogolev, visited again the area where this species had been most recently observed (in 2010 by A. Christopoulos). Since this owl is active mostly after dark, at nightfall they started playing its “song”. Receiving no response they changed place. On their third attempt, near the forest margin, at an altitude of 1.850 m, and shortly after 19.00 hours, a Tengmalm’s Owl called back -twice. They kept playing the call for a quarter of an hour (with intervals for better hearing) and the owl responded five times in total. 

Thus we can definitely say that Mt. Oiti still hosts the Tengmalm’s Owl, however, more fieldwork will be required in order to estimate its population size and trends.
19/11/2013
Presentation of the project in a symposium organized in Valencia, Spain
Presentation of the project in a symposium organized in Valencia, Spain (Photo: Santiago Algora)

The project manager, Mr. Christos Georgiadis, presented the project LIFE11NAT/GR/1014 “ForOpenForests” at the Symposium MEDITERRANEAN AGROECOLOGY AND ORGANIC AGRICULTURE and II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIOCÍTRICS” The Symposium was organised in Valencia, Spain from 2 to 5 October, within the framework of the exhibition Vegetal World. Specialists in agroecology from several Mediterranean countries participated in the Symposium. 

08/10/2013
First evaluation of the project completed on July 25 and 26
First evaluation of the project completed on July 25 and 26 (Photo: Serafeim Chatziskakis)

Ms. Anastasia Koutsoulioutsou, a member of the external monitoring team for LIFE projects in Greece and Cyprus held the first evalution of the project on July 25 and 26. Ms. Koutsolioutsou spent the first day at the offices of the HSPN, where she was briefed in detail about the development of the project and verified the progress towards agreed actions and targets. On the second day, Ms. Koutsolioutsou, accompanied by representatives of all partners, visited the project area. There, she had the opportunity to observe various teams working in the field, and received information about various aspects of fieldwork and on the implementation of project actions.

24/09/2013
A new vehicle for the HSPN
A new vehicle for the HSPN (Photo: Christos Georgiadis)

In the beginning of June, the HSPN purchased a new 4WD vehicle, a SUZUKI GRAND VITARA. The HSPN is the project coordinator, and this vehicle will be used to cover transportation needs of the entire project team for visits to the National Park of Mt. Oiti as well as Mt Kallidromo. The main criteria leading to the selection of this vehicle were: a) its competitive price, compared to similar vehicles of other manufacturers; and b) the security it provides in the field. After the end of the project in 2017, the vehicle will remain in the possession of the HSPN, to be used for other fieldwork.

24/09/2013
The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN) organised a 3-day visit to Mt. Oiti for the weekend occurring before the Feast of the Holy Spirit
The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN) organised a 3-day visit to Mt. Oiti (Photo: Christos Georgiadis)

On Sunday, June 23th, the group visited the high altitude plateaus, where the three temporary ponds are located. They were accompanied all-day-long by Georgios Karetsos, the manager of IMFE and deputy Scientific Coordinator of the project, and Christos Georgiadis, the Project Manager. During their visit to one of the temporary ponds they had the opportunity to observe the sampling methods used for monitoring the endemic Veronica species of Mt. Oiti (Veronica oetaea*) and received information about the flora of the temporary ponds by the researcher Pinelopi Delipetrou. Additionally, our ornithologist, Charalampos Alivizatos provided information about the monitoring of the local avifauna.

17/07/2013
The first meeting of Stakeholders Committee was held in Lamia
The first meeting of Stakeholders Committee was held in Lamia (Photo: Christos Georgiadis)

On June 14, 2013 the first meeting of the project stakeholders was held in Lamia. The meeting was attended by representatives of the local government, of community organizations, of farmers and hunters as well as members of local environmental NGOs. During the first part of the meeting the project activities were presented in detail by members of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature and the University of Athens. During the second part, members of Stakeholders Committee expressed their views on the needs and constraints for the management and conservation of the project area.

28/06/2013
Submission of the Inception Report
Submission of the Inception Report (Photo: Christos Georgiadis)

On June 7, 2013, the Inception Report of the project was submitted to the European Commission. This report is very important for all LIFE projects, because the Commission decides according to it, whether to continue funding. This report is the first of five that must be submitted throughout the implementation of the project.

28/06/2013
Members of the project team visited the project area
Members of the project team visited the project area (Photo: Christos Georgiadis)

On 11 and 12 May 2013, scientists from the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the University of Athens and the Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems visited the project area. Specifically, the field investigation was focused on the temporary ponds in the Oiti National Park and Mount Kallidromo. In the Oiti National Park the scientific team also visited the area of ​​priority habitat with Juniperus foetidissima (9560 *). During this visit, the team observed Veronica oetaea * just flowering in one of the temporary ponds of the Mt. Oiti National Park.

28/06/2013
Ornithological survey on Mt Oiti
Ornithological survey on Mt Oiti 5/4/2013 (Photo E. Shogolev)

Since November 2012, the ornithologist of the project, with his colleagues, have been visiting Mt Oiti every month. After March, the vistis increased to twice a month. Efforts are made to locate the target species of the project, mostly with the use of taped calls. Up to now, all the target woodpecker species have been detected (Picus canus, Dryocopus martius and Dendrocopos leucotos), as well as two more species (Picus viridis and Dendrocopos minor). Other species of note include raptors such as Aquila chrysaetos and Circaetus gallicus. During the next months, visits will include all parts of the Mt. Oiti SPA, in order to estimate the populations of the 5 target species and to study their habitat requirements and threats.

19/04/2013

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