“Uite, barza!” [Look, a stork!] - together for biodiversity

In August, white storks left for Africa. After the flight drills that kept them busy at the beginning of this month, chicks set out on their first trip in their lives. They will come back in spring, to the same nests whose addresses we know from the “Uite, barza!” app. There are no GDPR restrictions for the storks!

2019 is the third year in which the app, developed with support from the Enel Group in Romania for the Romanian Ornithological Society, collects data on the exact location of nests of this protected species, all around the country. This time, on 8 July, the app ranked first in the Travel category, with 10,000 downloads. People who volunteered in this extraordinary citizen science project counted 6,580 storks in 3,206 nests, of which 2,788 were validated. 693 of them are new nests, which we had no knowledge of before. This is how the white stork population map in Romania becomes more and more precise!

To whom does this level of data accuracy benefit? To ornithologists, first of all, but also to companies ensuring the network distribution of electricity to the homes and businesses of Romanians. The information collected by volunteers help biologists in their research - they review the data in the application, such as nest locations, photographs, number of chicks (with a record of 7 in one nest!), other details - and plan all kinds of actions to minimize risks for the birds. For example, they contact our electricity distribution companies, with whom they work closely together, for field electricians to mount insulating sheets or metal supports for nests on poles in the electrical network. After duplicates were removed from the app, the final number of unique nests was 1,901, of which 1,105 on poles. It is clear now, storks simply love electrical networks! Some of them are even safe there, since 626 nests have already been raised on supports, which minimizes the risk of electrocution and electricity supply interruptions.

The novelty this year is that specific data which represent the basis for interventions are shared with all distribution companies in the country. And this since storks really nest all over the country! They prefer to lay their eggs and “parent” close to populated areas, rich in food. From the data collected in the app this year, Suceava ranks first as number of nests, with 230 individual nests. Harghita ranks second with 211, then Călărași with 162, Constanța with 160, Tulcea with 139, Botoșani with 92, Timiș with 71, Ialomița with 70. It was expected that counties in Dobrogea, where a company in the Enel Group is the network operator, had a higher number of nests, since the area provides plenty of water and favorable nesting conditions. In Tulcea there are four localities with more than 30 nests each - in some of them E-Distribuție Dobrogea even supported this June, together with the Romanian Ornithological Society, a ringing campaign for the chicks (allowing them to be identified and tracked for their entire life). Two of the nests located at extremities are also in counties where our distribution companies maintain the electrical network: the easternmost stork nest photographed in 2019 is in Tulcea County, in Sfântu Gheorghe, while the westernmost one is in Arad County, in Nădlac.

Citizen science. “Uite, barza!” is not just another app, it is the first citizen science project in Romania. What does this mean? It means you don’t need specialized training to help scientists. All you have to do, in our case for the protection of white storks, is to stop and photograph the stork nests that you see on the way, count the chicks in the nest (the chicks are those with a black beak) and answer other easy questions in the app. All this in a certain period - between 25 June and 31 July, each year. Because this is when chicks are large enough for you to actually see them in the nest.

The European census of white storks takes place once every 10 years. But data change, every time the birds return new nests appear. Once the data are collected every year, network operators may take protective actions, to benefit the storks, but also other bird species. Also, by getting involved every year, people learn, they become aware of the things they may do themselves to care for the birds and protect nature in general.

Does volunteering work in Romania? Many of those who input data are electricians, who work on site and are already familiar with the application. In past years, Enel companies even held an internal event on this topic, to encourage participation. Other app users are members of the Romanian Ornithological Society, while others are merely people living in localities with stork nests. Since the penetration of smartphones and Internet is so high in Romania, it is no wonder this happens, but there is hope for an increased number of amateur ornithologists.

“We also relied on the fact that this is a charismatic species and, especially in smaller communities, there is also local pride, people watch the nests on their street. Even when they are not willing to volunteer otherwise, when it comes to this, they provide the data without effort. “Uite, barza!” has worked quite well, our expectations were exceeded. When you look at the map, except for mountain areas, where there are no nests, there are nests everywhere - so we have a wow level of participation, we have national coverage. There is strength in numbers. The last European census was in 2014. There are 5 years to go until the following one and we want to use this timeframe to make a tradition of using the app, we count on this - in 5 years people will already be familiar with it. At the time of the European census, the locals will input data in the areas where we are unable to send volunteers”.”

– Sebastian Bugariu, ornithologist, Romanian Ornithological Society

Collaboration between citizens - NGOs - companies. It appears that Romania joining the EU was also beneficial for the conservation of protected areas and species. The EU requires the designation of protected areas, the creation of management plans for such areas, the implementation of the plans, but also provides support by the funds it allocates.

The Romanian Ornithological Society is the oldest nature NGO in Romania, established in 1990 by ornithologists who were eager to join a professional association. Since then, their projects grew in number and size and got more diverse, the organization currently being large and active, with many partners, including Enel companies.

Among the current initiatives of the association, Sebastian Bugariu, having been with the Romanian Ornithological Society for 10 years, told us about two major ones, where the association develops management plans for protected areas in government projects, some of which they manage under the NATURA 2000 program. Such plans summarize information on the area and recommend conservation measures for the species inhabiting the areas. The documentation process requires frequent field trips - if you are looking for a job where you spend a lot of time outside, ornithology might be a good idea!

This is the largest and best known NGO specializing in bird protection. For the Enel companies in Romania, it was a natural partner in our efforts to protect the biodiversity in the areas where we operate. As part of a global group that places sustainability and joint value creation at the basis of its business model, we have strategic actions in which we collaborate with representatives of the civil society. The problem of access to energy/energy poverty is another example of area where we fund studies, consultations, calls for social entrepreneurship projects, since we are eager to find those social innovators that can provide solutions. The initiatives we support also help us minimize certain risks, but also contribute to the creation of such collaboration opportunities. Our philosophy is Open Power: we are open, we want to work together.

“The project “Uite, barza!” is a very good example of collaboration. It starts from meeting the birds’ need to raise their chicks in safe nests on electricity poles and from our obligation to protect nature in the areas where we operate. In order to prevent electrocution and interruptions, distribution companies in the Enel Group use the data collected through the app. Based on volunteer contributions from app users, we can know with a greater precision the exact places where we are needed.”

– Sonia Florian, institutional affairs specialist, Enel Romania

If you didn't get a chance to get involved this year, we invite you to do so in 2020! Install the app and count stork nests. You will help us prevent accidents in the electrical network and you will contribute to the wellbeing of this species which lives close to humans, and which we believe to be messengers of good news. By the way, if you like storks, you can wear them, check out the online shop of the Romanian Ornithological Society.

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“Uite, barza!” [Look, a stork!] - together for biodiversity

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