On 7-9 June 2023, the award ceremony was held for the students of the primary and secondary school of the ZSC/ZPS Area delle Gravine, in Puglia, who were involved in the educational course dedicated to the Egyptian vulture, which was activated with the LIFE Egyptian vulture project.
The course, coordinated by the Puglia Region and developed by the staff of the LIPU Italian League for the Protection of Birds, saw the development of educational activities both in the classroom and in the LIPU Oasis of Laterza and involved 8 Comprehensive Institutes of the province of Taranto (I.C. Diaz-Dante and I.C. Marconi-Michelangelo di Laterza; I.C. Calò di Ginosa; I.C. Surico and I.C. Pascoli-Giovinazzi di Castellaneta; I.C. Marconi-Michelangelo di Palagianello; I.C. Pascoli-Andria and I.C. De Amicis-Manzoni di Massafra).
There were 1,056 students who took part in the awareness-raising activities, which aimed to allow the children to discover this small vulture, what threats put its survival at risk and what are the behaviours and interventions that can be implemented to help it.
At the end of the lessons, the “A future for the Egyptian vulture” competition was launched, which was attended by 242 students who created, using different materials and techniques, 88 very interesting and evocative works.
Showing remarkable creativity and a marked sensitivity to the issues that had been addressed in the classroom and in the field, the students made both “classic” elaborations, such as drawings and posters, and more original works, such as small sculptures and collages. Thirty works, carried out by 124 students, were decreed the most deserving and designated as winners of the competition. All participants in the course were rewarded with a souvenir hat by a delegation made up of representatives of the Apulia Region (Valentina Rubini) and the LIPU (Gaetano Luce, Manuèl Marra and volunteers Michele and Giulia). A special prize, consisting of a drawing kit, was awarded to the 124 winning students.
