The Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA) organized a MINKA Citizen Observatory workshop in Lemos High School on 7 November 2024, in the framework of CS4 Ohrid/Prespa Lakes. The Greek part of Prespa watershed, where the school is located, is a protected area belonging to Natura 2000 Network.
The importance of biodiversity and its relationship with climate change were presented to the school students and teachers, as well as the ways in which citizen science can contribute to research of local flora and fauna. The MINKA platform was demonstrated and instructions were given on the operation of the MINKA mobile app. Field work was conducted with the students in Koula area and habitat type 6260 between the two lakes, where they were separated into groups for recording biodiversity observations. At the same time, they were also introduced to local nature conservation actions and the ways in which issues such as water management are dealt with.
The workshop outcomes surpassed expectations as 109 observations were collected during the first day. The observations were uploaded in the MINKA project specifically for Lemos High School, open to future observations, and can be visited here: https://minka-sdg.org/projects/gymnasio-lykeiakes-taxeis-laimoy-prespwn.