Volunteers of the “Everyone Can Help” Berehovo Volunteer Center, directed by Leonid Pokrytyuk, an experienced ornithologist at IERS and IRCEF, organized an educational walk to the Berehovsky quarry near Berehovo town.
The mine is approximately 300 meters long and 50 meters tall. The quarry walls are covered with unusual volcanic rocks called perlites, sometimes known as amorphous volcanic glass. They vary from other similar natural materials in that perlite can expand its capacity by 20 times when heated to a specified temperature. It bursts like popcorn when heated to 870 °C. This is owing to the existence of 2-6% bound water, which is made up of millions of tiny bubbles contained within soft glassy particles.
Thus, perlite is a type of natural glass that looks like white or gray sand and has no odor. It finds use in a variety of industries, including metals, energy, construction, agriculture, medical, food, and cryogenic equipment.
During the hike, they became acquainted with medicinal and real wild plants. They saw colorful European bee-eaters and flocks of wood pigeons quenching their thirst in a shallow body of water. The participants observed the common stonechat, yellowhammer, maize bunting, red-backed shrike, and lesser whitethroat while examining the bird population of the meadow habitat. The event concluded with an intriguing attraction: descending and ascending a rope with climbing equipment.
The event was held with the participation of IDP children as part of the cooperation of the Interreligious and environmental civil forum of Eastern Europe (IRCEF) (led by Olexander Bokotey) the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU Bundesverband, NABU International), project coordinators Ivan Tymofeiev (NABU), Nataliya Kulya (IRCEF).
Informational Service of IRCEF