Birds without Borders

The goal of the joint Slovak-Hungarian project was the development of bird monitoring activities, coordinated bird-ringing camping activities and the establishment of the necessary infrastructure.
On one hand, the aim of the project was to provide adequate conditions for the research activities and ecotourism, as well as demonstration activities performed at the territory, in accordance with the current requirements, to further promote the program and to provide various activities for the interested, all year long.
On the other hand, another goal of the project was to improve the quality of field presentation, which includes: the improvement of accessibility, renovation of the bird capturing and demonstration assets, provision of full-time presence of the experts serving the visitors' needs, establishment of new, spectacular demonstration possibilities and public promotion of the programme through a mobile classroom/caravan.
An important goal was to expand the range of ecotourism services in the cross-border region, by demonstrating the ornithological values of the territory to the public.
The result of the project was the construction of a new visitor infrastructure in the cross-border region (2 Observation Towers at Hrhovské ponds, Green trail Drienovec and a seasonally open interactive nature trail in the immediate vicinity of the Bodva River Bird Ringing Station. Visitors may learn many interesting things about the life of birds by browsing through the boards of the stops hiding in the shrubs and playing games at each of them.
The work of ornithologists working at ornithological hospitals will be more comfortable thanks to a new mobile classroom/caravan on the Slovak side and a new heated yurt on the Hungarian side.
Also, an interactive map has been brought to life to allow the visitors to see the information related to tourism and nature protection in the territory of the Aggtelek and Slovak Karst National Parks, including the bird watching possibilities - in a systematic, transparent and easily accessible form.
Due to the project, the quality of bird watching improved, along with the possibilities of individual bird monitoring, therefore those interested in birds may get closer to the birds of the territory and to the relevant sources of information. 
In addition to the above, the project also contributes to the protection of the bird species and their habitats.