CLIMANATRES — early project events

The following highlights present only the early project events in which researchers and experts from the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia took an active part. Three of our botanists — Dr Salza Palpurina, Rossen Vassilev and Irina Gerasimova — first joined a field mapping training in Southeastern Romania in June 2025, where plant ecologists from Romania, Bulgaria, and the lead partner HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research visited species-rich steppes and forest-steppes, exchanged mapping methodologies, and discussed harmonised habitat-type guidelines.

In July 2025, Dr Salza Palpurina and Prof. Rossen Tzonev, together with three representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) — Kalina Stoyanova, Aylin Hasan, and Hristina Ivanova participated in the kick-off meeting at the National Botanical Garden in Vácrátót, Hungary. The event gathered around fifty participants—including project partners and representatives from associated bodies such as the EUSDR—who came together to launch CLIMANATRES, present its objectives, and introduce the partnership structure. Many presentations were presented including: “Restoration planning under the EU nature restoration regulation”, “Hoe vegetation modelling outputs can support national and broad scale planning”, etc.

The following day, on 22 July 2025, the first Steering Committee meeting convened to formally establish the committee, define its role and decision-making authority, and plan the immediate tasks focused on data collection and mapping. The same day, workshops were held to lay the groundwork for field mapping, where participants—including project and strategic partners—worked together on defining EUNIS and Natura 2000 category systems and refining mapping methodology.

On 23—24 July 2025, these workshops continued with practical field sessions in diverse habitats near the Bükk and Pilis Mountains, allowing participants to test and further adjust the mapping guidelines.

Looking ahead, from 24—26 August 2025, the project leader Imelda Somodi will visit Bulgaria to further test the mapping methods in the Pleven region, in an event led by our main habitat expert, Prof. Rossen Tzonev.

You can explore further details—including updates, outcomes, and upcoming events—on the CLIMANATRES project page on the Interreg Danube website.