In the village of Banichan, southwestern Bulgaria, also known as the "village of storks", a camera was paced several years ago to constantly monitor one of the many stork nests. The idea came from the local community center "Izgrev - 1930" and the representative office of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds in Gotse Delchev. The camera is constantly on and via the Internet it is possible to see what is happening in the nest at any time.

The purpose of the observation is educational and aims at creating responsible attitude towards the environment. The project is entitled: "Cultural symbols of the village of Banichan" and is funded by the Culture National Fund at the Ministry of Culture. "We want to know more about the life of the white stork, so that children can watch the stork's nest and see when the eggs hatch and how the little storks feed," the environmentalists said.

In addition to the camera, an information board was also placed near the nest. You can watch in real time the life of the stork family HERE and more interesting details about the village and its traditions can be found in Radio Bulgaria’s article "Banichan – a village of churches, storks and… onions”.

Compiled by: Gergana Mancheva

English: Alexander Markov