Researcher and kindergarten receive Green Planet charter

BELGRADE - This year's winners of the Green Planet great charter are Mihajlo Stankovic, researcher at the Special Natural Reserve Zasavica, and Pcelica (Little Bee) kindergarten in the village of Setonje, Serbia’s association of environmental sciences experts, which is giving the award on the occasion of Earth Day, said in a release on Monday.

“In his 30 years of work at Zasavica, Stankovic has found 48 plant and animal species that were considered extinct in Serbia, and seven (species) in the Balkans,” Branislav Marinkov, president of the award jury, told a press conference in the explanation of the decision.

Zasavica is a natural reserve and habitat for several hundred birds, land-based animals and fish in the southern region of Serbia’s Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. In 1977, it was placed under the protection of the state as a natural resource of principal importance, first category.

This year, Marinkov said, the decision was to have the two winners share the award. Stankovic received his recognition by a unanimous expert jury decision and the kindergarten from Setonja, eastern Serbia, by a decision of the association’s management board.

The kindergarten received the charter as a recognition for its 15 years of successful operation, including the implementation of a environmental project called ‘The Green Alphabet’.

Pcelica is one of the three educational institutions in Serbia that joined the international Eco-Schools program in late 2013 by the decision of the Federation for Environmental Education (FEE), and it will be a member over the next two school calendar years.

The Green Planet great charter, given for “good done for nature,” is being awarded on the occasion of Earth...