The highlight of the year was the project kick-off conference, which took place in September in Poland. Field experts shared their knowledge on the ecology and conservation of Parnassius apollo, and members of the consortium presented the project goals, as well as activities past and present.
The official project website was launched with several articles published on the butterfly and general activities since then. The website itself is available in the project languages of English, Czech, German and Polish. In November, LIFEApollo2020 released its first project newsletter to partners. If you want to stay up to date with project news, you can subscribe here.
Citizen science campaign
Citizen science is the practice of public participation and collaboration in scientific research to increase scientific knowledge. Through citizen science, people can participate in many stages of the scientific process, from the design of the research question to data collection and volunteer mapping, data interpretation and analysis, and publication and dissemination of results.
The citizen science monitoring activities was launched by project partners in different countries by using the iNaturilist app and data from local nature protection NGOs.
Conference 2022
The memorable event of 2022 is the Kick-off conference of the LIFE Apollo2020 project. It kept what the name promised: an excellent mix of presentations and lively discussions on the topics of “Science, ecology and innovation for Parnassius apollo conservation in Central Europe”. Around 100 people gathered on-site in Jelenia Góra, in the beautiful building of Karkonosze National Park to discuss, learn, and exchange. Even more people participated online and watched the livestream of the conference on the first day.
Breeding activities
The breeding activities started in Poland. As well the breeding certification had been issued in all countries represented in the project. The plan of breeding activities was finalized, so thousands of caterpillars are going to be released in 2023.
The LIFE Apollo2020 project is thankful to everyone who was supporting and keeping in touch with the project during this year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!