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Ecological Summer Camp - Let's Protect Gazelles!
On July 13-15, the "Reintroduction of Gazelles to the Areas Where They Historically Inhabited the Caucasus" program, initiated by Leyla Aliyeva, vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and founder and head of the IDEA Public Union, held its next ecological summer camp titled "Let's Protect Gazelles!"
Around 60 schoolchildren from the Gakh district participated in the camp organized by the IDEA Public Union, the Youth Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic Child and Youth Development Center of the Ministry of Education, and the Azerbaijan representative office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with the support of the Gakh District Executive Power.
The main goal of the "Let's Protect Gazelles!" ecological summer camp is to educate the young generation living in the areas where gazelles have been reintroduced, as well as those living close to their natural habitats.
During the camp, schoolchildren took part in presentations, trainings, and excursions about the lifestyle of gazelles, the history of their settlement in our country, their distribution areas, and their role in nature. They also learned about the efforts and successes in restoring the population of this rare species. The children participated in various ecological contests and fun knowledge competitions related to the environment. Inter-team ecological games were held in nature, studies were conducted on identifying our fauna species based on footprints, and safety rules in nature areas were explained. At the end, certificates and souvenirs were presented to the participants.
The "Returning Gazelles to Their Historical Habitats in the Caucasus" program was launched by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in 2010 and is currently being successfully implemented through the joint cooperation of the IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and the WWF Azerbaijan representative office. Over the years, more than 150 gazelles have been reintroduced from Shirvan National Park to their historically inhabited areas in Azerbaijan and Georgia, with ongoing monitoring and protection efforts. Although the program aims to increase and protect the number of gazelles, one of its main focuses is to raise public awareness. Therefore, these summer camps organized for schoolchildren are of great importance.
It should be noted that, as a result of these successful efforts, the gazelle population in the Republic of Azerbaijan has reached up to 7,000 heads.
