At the Berehovo Public Center “Everyone Can Help,” eco-activists hosted an educational session for children focused on stork conservation. With the storks soon beginning their mass migration to Africa for the winter, the session aimed to raise awareness about the challenges these birds face during their long journey. Additionally, the session highlighted the plight of storks that, due to injury or other reasons, will be unable to join the migration and will stay behind in Ukraine throughout the winter.

Motivational eco-educational posters and stickers have appeared on the interior walls of the Spiritual Center of St. John Paul II in the village of Antalovtsi, encouraging visitors to treat the environment as God’s creation responsibly. These posters, designed to look like human footprints, represent our efforts to acknowledge the importance of preserving nature.

At the Eparchial Summer Camp “The Influencer of God” at the Spiritual Center of St. John Paul II in Antalovtsi, Khrystyna Leshko, a primary school teacher and volunteer with IRCEF and the Ecological Commission of MGCE, hosted an eco-educational event for children titled “Clean Environment – Clean Conscience.” The class aimed to teach the younger generation how to reduce household waste by following the three main principles of the ZERO WASTE ecological movement: REDUCE, REUSE, and RECYCLE.

Oksana Kremin and Olha Velychkanych, experts of the IRCEF and active volunteers of the Ecological Commission of the Mukachevo Greek Catholic Eparchy, led an engaging environmental quest titled “Journey to the Realm of Biodiversity” for children at the Holy Trinity parish camp. Throughout this educational competition, participants demonstrated their knowledge by completing various tasks at locations such as “Environmentally Responsible Behavior,” “Forest Biodiversity,” “What Grows There?”, “Winged Friends,” “Animal World Records,” “Guess the Plant by Smell,” and “Decoder.”

On July 2, researchers of the Nature Branch of the Transcarpathian Regional Museum of Local Lore named after T. Lehotsky, organized a workshop in collaboration with the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies and the Interreligious and Civil Environmental Forum of Eastern Europe. The workshop was intended for internally displaced children and children from extended families to educate them about the impact of plastic on biodiversity. This event, held on the eve of World Plastic Free Day (celebrated on July 3), aimed to inspire children, their parents, and friends to forgo plastic bags for at least one day and opt for canvas bags instead.

Students from grades 5-7 of the “Sonechko” summer camp at Rativtsi Gymnasium embarked on a tourist and ecological trip to Nevytsky Castle. The event was organized by Viktor Maletych, a teacher and organizer of tourist activities at the gymnasium, along with fellow teachers Timeya Pryaha, Timeya Shek, Nicolett Sabov, and Yazmin Andrychyk. During the trip, the teachers introduced the students to the flora and fauna of the forest near the villages of Nevytske and Kamianytsia. They emphasized the importance of proper behavior and navigation in nature, helping to develop the students’ observation skills, logical thinking, and physical abilities.

IRCEF volunteers and activists of the Ecological Commission of the MGCE, Olha-Polina Lendel and Father Mykhailo Lendel, conducted an eco-educational quest for children of the Roma national minority in Velykyi Bereznyi. The event took place in the arboretum park, a monument of landscape art of local importance in Ukraine. The quest aimed to teach children to recognize different types of plants, demonstrate the value of each, and foster a careful attitude towards the environment.

Researchers from the Nature Branch of the Transcarpathian Regional Museum of Local Lore named after T. Lehotskyi, along with IRCEF experts Mykhailo Bilanych and Ruslana Dzhahman, recently conducted thematic tours of the “Nature of the Native Land” exhibition. This educational event was organized for students from the Ecological and Naturalistic Center for Students of the Vynogradiv City Council of the Transcarpathian Region, accompanied by their supervisors Svitlana Sheresh, Halyna Chabrun, Oksana Melnyk, Yuryna Klyap, Myroslava Dankanych, and Karina Sheresh.

Volunteers Diana Stremoukhova and Leonid Pokrytyuk of the Berehovo Public Center “Everyone Can Help” recently conducted an engaging and creative lesson about birds for young visitors. The session focused on introducing the children to the raven family, which includes seven nesting species: common raven (Corvus corax), western jackdaw (Corvus cornix), eagle owl (Corvus monedula), common magpie (Pica pica), Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), and spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes). They also learned about two rare migratory species: carrion crow (Corvus corone) and Siberian jay (Perisoreus infaustus).

Schoolchildren from the Gecha Gymnasium named after Kaidi Lajos recently visited the Berehovo public center “Everyone Can Help” to learn about bird conservation efforts. This visit allowed the students to observe the feathered inhabitants of the Count’s Court, under the care of ornithologist Leonid Pokrytyuk. The volunteers provided a comprehensive tour of the center, showcasing the birds residing there and explaining why each cannot return to the wild.