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Azerbaijan sends gazelles to Georgia under IDEA project

22 October 2013 12:03 (UTC+04:00)
Azerbaijan sends gazelles to Georgia under IDEA project

By Nigar Orujova

Ten gazelles transported from Azerbaijan were reintroduced to neighboring Georgia as part of the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) campaign's project on October 21.

The project, "Reintroduction of gazelles to their historical habitat areas in the Caucasus", was initiated by Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva.

The project is being implemented by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources with support of the Foundation, IDEA and the Azerbaijan office of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the leading organization in wildlife conservation and endangered species.

The project aims to increase the population of gazelles and their resettlement to the areas they previously inhabited, from which they disappeared for various reasons.

"The IDEA campaign is successfully implementing the project. The process of the resettlement of gazelles is successfully continuing. Gazelles easily adapt to their historical habitat areas," acting Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyngulu Baghirov said.

According to him, the project consists of two parts. The first group of animals was freed on the territory of the Absheron district in 2010, a traditional habitat of gazelles. There were special transmitters on their necks to monitor their lives.

Baghirov expressed confidence that this problem will be solved in the near future with the support of the IDEA campaign, which was initiated by Leyla Aliyeva.

Georgian Deputy Ecology and Environment Protection Minister Shalva Ameridzhili expressed special gratitude to Leyla Aliyeva for the initiative.

"Today, we have started restoring the habitat of gazelles in Georgia," he said. "This is a major measure towards the restoration of biological diversity throughout the region. I hope that in the future we will start restoring the population of bisons in the territory of the region."

The IDEA campaign regularly arranges various activities and projects aimed at drawing public attention to the issues of environmental and animal protection.

Earlier in October, the campaign organized a school trip to the Azerbaijan animal rescue center to inform pupils about the problems of homeless animals and encourage them to take care of nature and animals.

IDEA has been promoting innovative approaches to the solution of environmental problems since its inception on July 12, 2011.

IDEA is based on the principles of dialogue, action, leadership and education -- all essential components for equipping a generation to foster positive and sustainable environmental change. The campaign is mainly focusing on the power of youth and considers it as an important tool to change the way we behave and consume our surrounding natural world.

The campaign's mission includes creation of a real and virtual community of young people regionally and internationally, with a shared passion for the environment, nurturing the virtual community through an open dialogue which provides information, inspiration and practical calls for environmental action, as well as empowering each member of the community to become an ambassador and leader for local environmental awareness and action.

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