ONE OF THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!

Living in a park means obviously being all the time surrounded by nature. But to get closer to it, there is something else that you can do as a volunteer: you can take part in the monitoring of the wildlife! You may now wonder what this means: in spring and summer the staff of the nature department controls the presence of some species in the territory of the park. They want to know how many individuals there are and where they are. Each species is monitored every few years so you can be there for the monitoring of one species or another depending on their long-term plan. This activity is very important for a park as it allows to understand if the conservation efferts are effective and to act accordingly.

Therefore this year I could take part in the monitoring of nesting gulls and terns. We went on small protected islands in different lakes and counted the nests and the eggs. It was amazing! There were dozens of nests and hundreds of birds flying around!

Actually this is not the main task of the volunteer here but still, when monitorings are organized and you are not busy, you can ask to join! And if you are passionate about birds and nature as I am, you always try to take part...=)

This experience affected me greatly as it is a way to understand how here environmental protection works and to see what I belive in put into practice.

But to realize how beautiful nature is and how much important it is to protect our environment – you can do it in your work, by volunteering and in your everyday life-, you can easily walk or travel around and explore our wonderful nature, Lithuania and the Baltic States will give you plenty of this opportunities!