What is a forest? What do trees grow from? How do we understand which tree is how old? What are protected areas and areas from the Natura 2000 network? What do foresters do to preserve plants and animals in the Northeast? These and many other questions had to be answered by 160 children from the fourth and third groups of the kindergartens "Izvorche", "Brezichka", "Slantse" and "Smehorani". Irina Pavlova from the DPP "Shumensko Plato" and Tatyana Dimitrova from the SIDP conducted several lessons, and each child received a book with applications and pictures. During the classes, the children applied their forest and learned which animal eats what. The children recalled the useful and harmful activities in the forests, got acquainted with the types of plants and animals that are found in the PP "Shumensko Plato" and learned which Natura 2000 areas are and why they were created.
The lessons of the forest educators are part of a nature conservation project of the Social Development Fund "Removal of invasive alien species, restoration and protection of priority forest habitats from the Natura 2000 network in Northeastern Bulgaria" LIFE19 NAT/BG/001133 – LIFE IASHAB.
On 21 May, all countries on the old continent celebrate the European Natura 2000 Day, which also coincides with the 29th anniversary of the creation of the EU LIFE programme. Natura 2000 Day is celebrated according to a special Declaration signed in 2017 by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Presidency of the Council and the Committee of the Regions. The date was set in connection with the EU Habitats Directive, approved in 1992, which, together with the Birds Directive (approved earlier in 1979), creates the basis for building the network. The LIFE programme is a financial instrument of the European Union supporting projects for the protection of the environment, nature and climate in the territory of the Union.