Last Wednesday, June 28, 2023, the new temporary exhibition ‘The pollinators we can’t live without’ was officially opened at the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNHS) in Sofia. Safeguard, along with the projects B-GOOD and PoshBee, presented results related to the study of pollinators, the threats they are facing and the steps we need to take to preserve them.
The event's opening was marked with an introductory presentation by the director of NMNHS and co-author of the exhibition, Prof. Pavel Stoev. “In the past 10 years, a number of scientists are raising an alarm over the decline of many pollinator species”, explained Prof. Stoev and added: “In our exhibition, we aim to draw attention to this very problem.” In addition, the museum director presented a welcome letter from the Executive Director of the Bulgarian Forestry Executive Agency, indicating the exhibition's importance.
The introductory presentation was followed by a brief overview of the three EU-funded scientific projects: B-GOOD, PoshBee and Safeguard. The results were presented by Teodor Metodiev from Pensoft Publishers, a partner institution of all three projects. Teodor pointed out that one of the main objectives of Safeguard’s work package 7 ‘Communication, knowledge exchange and impact development’ is to develop a Safeguard Knowledge Exchange Hub – Safe-Hub. The Safe-Hub aims to be a single nexus point for data, information and toolkits from Safeguard and other relevant pollinator projects. The platform, which will be operational by August 2024, will form a flagship output and will be made publicly available with data accessibility defined in user-friendly formats.
The special guest at the exhibition was Prof. Ekaterina Kozhuharova, an expert in the field of ethnobotany, pollination and breeding systems of medicinal and rare plants, melissopalynology, ecosystem services and conservation of rare plants.
The temporary exhibition will continue until September 29, 2023 in the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNHS), Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd. 1, Sofia, Bulgaria.
The event is organised by the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNHS), in partnership with Pensoft Publishers and the scientific projects B-GOOD (GA No. 817622), PoshBee (GA No. 773921) and Safeguard (GA No. 101003476). The authors of the exhibition are Nikol Yovcheva (Pensoft), Pavel Stoev (NMNHS), Teodor Metodiev (Pensoft) and Anna Sapundzhieva (Pensoft), and the design of all promotional materials is Zlatka Yaramova (NMNHS).
Prof. Ekaterina Kozhuharova presenting at the exhibition ‘The pollinators we can’t live without’. Photo: Boriana Pandova, http://www.borianapandova.com