Echoversity – an innovative participatory biodiversity conservation project
“Echoversity” is a project led by EcoMuseum Zagori, in response to ACCTING’s call for pilots Wild Eyes – Biodiversity crisis knowledge. This call supports citizen science engagement and awareness campaigns encouraging participants to collect evidence of biodiversity change and preparing fact-based solutions that are positive to biodiversity.
EcoMuseum Zagori (EMZ) promotes sustainability and the conservation of the protected areas in Zagori, Greece. The Zagori region is a border mountainous territory in Northwestern Greece attracting more than 30.000 visitors each year. With two National Parks, the area of Zagori hosts more than 2,000 rare species and subspecies of flora and fauna. This pilot project will focus on the conservation and protection of both the alpine meadows and pastures of the area and their valuable ecosystem services.
Objectives
The project aimed to record the biodiversity of the forage trails of Zagori, with the active contribution of the local community. It aimed to involve innovative soundscape applications for the mapping and conservation of biodiversity, with the participation of citizens, in the pastoral routes of Zagori. Participants detect, record, and discuss the conservation and management of the ecosystem of local pastures.
With Echoversity, the EMZ aimed to connect the landscape with the community and the tangible and intangible cultural heritage, bringing together scientists and local stakeholders, establishing the development of collaborative action relationships that aim both to record and preserve biodiversity, and to educate and raise awareness among farmers for the sustainable conservation of local habitats.
Activities
The project aimed to offer a combination of scientific and social activities:
- three field training workshops on biodiversity inventory, monitoring and management, targeting local stakeholders and interested parties, with a focus on mobile livestock farmers
- the recording and mapping of the biodiversity of Zagori through Bio-Blitz workshops and Sound Walks
- the identification and mapping of ecosystem services in the field
- the identification of the cultural identity of the nomadic pastoralists
- Educational Programme for Children on the paths of transhumance and biodiversity
- Mobile photo exhibition inspired by the local biodiversity and its connection to the transhumance routes,
- creation of products from pastoral women
By directly involving citizens and the scientific community and using partners’ existing networks, the project aspired to raise awareness on the marginalised community of pastoral breeders on the one hand and the local argi-food and agrotourism on the other. Special focus was to be given to women pastoralists and young generations who want to get involved with transhumance as a tourism product.
The project progressed through a number of overlapping activities:
- In close collaboration with the local community and associations, the team mapped and marked a pastoral trail for sustainable tourism. The digital map of the trail in the EcholociApp additionally encourages engagement with the local biodiversity via the data mapped in the BioBlitz and Sound Walks.
- In June 2024, the team organised a Participatory Bio-Blitz Workshop in which participants engaged in a hands-on biodiversity inventory and a soundwalk collecting data for local conservation efforts. Part of the workshop was also a presentation on the relationship between transhumance practices and biodiversity conservation, a hands-on bakery workshop by women from the transhumance community and a local dance showcase.
- In parallel to the biodiversity inventory, participants of the workshop also engaged in the mapping of the area’s soundscape through Sound Walks. The resulting soundscape was used in the EcholociApp, the educational programme and the mobile exhibitions.
- An educational summer programme engaged 200 school children from the nearby city Ionnina as well as the village communities in interactive activities that linked local heritage with biodiversity conservation. This included short presentations, visits to local breeders, sound walks and educational games.
- Additionally, the project engaged pastoral women and community artists in the manufacturing of local products. A range of workshops was organised particularly around various wool-based techniques that underscored wool’s potential as a sustainable byproduct of livestock farming and encouraged participants to explore its creative applications. The activity concluded with a range of crafted woollen products that reflect the cultural and natural heritage, which were featured in mobile exhibitions.
- Finally, a mobile local biodiversity exhibition was organised to showcase the intersection of biodiversity conservation, transhumance, and the pivotal role of women in preserving cultural heritage. “Weaving Network” travelled across the cities of Metsovo, Zagori, Ioannina and Konitsa, and was integrated into festivities around the European Wool Day and the European Heritage Days.
- Biodiversity and soundscape recordings in the EchoLoci App: A smartphone application co-developed by EMZ.
Echoversity provides a scalable model for participatory biodiversity conservation, demonstrating how citizen science, cultural heritage, and community empowerment can work together. Through its array of integrated activities, the pilot project was particularly successful in increasing awareness around (the link between) biodiversity and cultural heritage amongst the various participants (~750 in total). The project facilitated new relationships and collaborations between local stakeholders, scientists, artists, environmental groups etc., that could be fundamental in the region’s efforts to integrate sustainable tourism and cultural heritage preservation. A physical manifestation of this collaboration is the newly marked pastoral trail for hiking.
According to the EMZ, a key factor contributing to long-term sustainability of the project is its strong foundation in community engagement. In this way, the project remains relevant and adaptable to evolving community needs. The project thus highlights the strength of a bottom-up approach to biodiversity conservation.