site.btaEgyptian Vulture Conservation Project with Bulgarian Participation Wins LIFE Awards Citizens' Prize

A project aiming to strengthen the population of Egyptian vultures, where Bulgaria is one of the partners, won the LIFE Awards 2026 Citizens' Prize, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) - the coordinating beneficiary for the project - reported Thursday. The winning project is titled Urgent Action to Strengthen the Balkan Population of the Egyptian Vulture and Secure Its Flyway, and it was the only Bulgarian finalist for the award this year. It brought together 22 partners from 14 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The 20th anniversary of the LIFE Awards took place on June  3 as part of EU Green Week 2026, celebrating the most innovative and impactful LIFE projects contributing to environmental and climate action across Europe. 

Receiving the award, project leader Dr. Stoyan Nikolov said, as quoted by BSPB: "This award belongs to every member of our international team - to our current and former colleagues who have dedicated years of their lives to this cause. We thank all our partners, the BirdLife family, the A. G. Leventis Foundation, and our families, who have supported us every step of the way.” 

After more than three decades of uncertainty regarding the future of the Egyptian vulture in Bulgaria, the results of the project offer real hope for the recovery of the species’ population in the country, the BSPB said. As part of the project, over 50 Egyptian vultures were fitted with GPS transmitters to track them and identify threats along their migration route. Thanks to specialized anti-poison teams with dogs in Bulgaria and Greece, more than 100 poisoned baits were discovered and removed. In six countries, over 1,500 dangerous power poles were made safe, and 30 young Egyptian vultures were released into the wild as part of the population reinforcement programme in Bulgaria. To date, six wild pairs of birds released under the project have formed. 

Alongside field activities, the project reached thousands of people through educational and informational initiatives. More than 4,300 students in 100 schools participated in conservation programmes, and through campaigns, events, and media appearances, messages about the species’ conservation reached millions of people along the entire migration route.

The other finalists for the LIFE Awards 2026 included: LIFE Danube floodplains (for restoration and management of Danube floodplain habitats); LIFE WOLFALPS EU (coordinated actions to improve wolf-human coexistence at the alpine population level); LIFE AIRFRESH (air pollution removal by FoRESts for a better human well-being); LIFE Fitting (demonstration of an innovative PLAN-DO toolbox for a safer, resource-efficient and fit-for-purpose wastewater treatment); LIFE Turn to e-circular (awareness building of the circular economy key elements among households in the field of EE equipment); LIFE CLIMATE SMART CHEFS (empowering chefs for a climate-smart, sustainable and healthy food system in the EU); LIFE WetLands4CLIMATE (Mediterranean wetlands management and restoration as carbon sinks); LIFE Climate value chains (establishing climate friendly processing chains to reduce carbon emissions and support the new green deal).