It is a mini-atlas that contains information and images about endangered plant and animal species in the countries of origin of the partner schools.

Endagered plant and animal species

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "I. L. CARAGIALE" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Elena Alexandra Gorovei)

A rare species of orchid, an endangered plant that ranks first in the list of plants protected by law. In Romania, the plant has been protected since 1938, by Royal Decree. It is found in forests, in more or less shady areas, on coasts, and on calcareous soils.

EĞE SANAYI PRIMARY SCHOOL – KARTAL&nbsp;- ISTANBUL - TURKEY (Fatma Sağlam)

The yelkouan shearwaters look like a flying cross, with its wing held at right angles to the body, and it changes from very dark brown to white as the dark upper parts and paler undersides are alternately exposed as it travels low over the sea. It is under some threat from the development of holiday resorts near its breeding sites, and also from animals such as rats and cats who kill thousands of birds each year and it is estimated that this may lead to local extinction in several decades.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Laura-Viorela Munteanu)

With only 500 wild and protected specimens since 1993, the spotted ferret lives in arid and steppe areas in the Dobrogea area. The only populations in the European Union of this species are on the territory of Romania.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Florentina Mihaela Deli-Iorga)

The Romanian hamster is a&nbsp;nocturnal or crepuscular species. It lives solitarily in a complex burrow system. It eats seeds, legumes, rooted vegetables, and grasses, but also insects. It transports its food with its elastic cheek pouches to the food chambers. They reach sexual maturity when 56–70 days old and breed through early April to August.&nbsp;It communicates by squeaking or with ultra-sound. The Romanian hamster has brown back fur and a white underside. The top of the head has a dark stripe that extends to the neck. The dark cheek stripes extend back to the shoulder. Its head-body length is up to 180&nbsp;mm&nbsp;and its weight ranges from 80&nbsp;to 115&nbsp;g.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Nicoleta Legian)

Dianthus callizonus is a flower endemic to Piatra Craiului National Park, here being the only place in the world where we can find it. It lives mainly on the grassy and sunny cliffs of the lower alpine area, among the rubble, or at the upper limit of the alpine meadows. It has a bright pink color, and the corolla of about 3-4 cm has five petals, toothed at the tip. The center of the flower has a darker ring, and the petals are sprinkled with white spots. Also in this area, there are some fine hairs. This flower was discovered more than 150 years ago by two Transylvanian botanists which were surprised by the uniqueness of the carnation and the fact that it did not spread to the surrounding massifs.

Pop art green

Its coat varies according to age and seasons. The dominant tone is tawny-brown with lighter shades on the median part of the head, on the ears, and on the legs, which also have an obvious dark stripe. The wolf lives in packs whose size varies according to the availability of food and ecological conditions. In Italy, the herds are made up on average of 2 to 7 individuals. Today only 1600 exemplars are alive

I.C FRANCESCO RISO - ISOLA DELLE FEMMINE - SICILY- ITALY (Anna Maria Durante)

ZERYNTHIA CAUCASICA

Is a papilionid butterfly whose geographical range extends from the Black Sea and southern Russia (southern Caucasus Mountains) to Georgia and northeast Turkey. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. It feeds on Aristolochia species.

PRIMARY SCHOOL OF IPPEIOS – LESVOS - GREECE (Helen Gyrelli)&nbsp;

It is the rarest plant of Kefalonia (a Greek island) since it is found only on the highest peaks of Mount Ainos. It does not exist anywhere else in the world. In an effort to protect Viola cephalonica from human influences, a fence was constructed in 2008 at the Chionistra site by the Ainos National Park Management Agency with the assistance of the Kefallinia Forest Department.

I.C FRANCESCO RISO - ISOLA DELLE FEMMINE - SICILY- ITALY (Anna Maria Durante)

Is a pinniped mammal of the seal family living in the Tuscan archipelago and its origins date back to the Etruscan period. The life of the monk seal takes place above all in the sea; during the reproductive period, it prefers the stretches of the sea near the coasts, where it looks for isolated beaches, settling mainly in caves or small ravines accessible only from the sea because childbirth and breastfeeding take place exclusively on dry land.

&nbsp;Klaipedos Vites Progimnazija - Klapeida - Lithuania (Lina Bruziene)

The Ural owl usually appears as a rather pale grey-brown owl. It has a broad, rounded head with a correspondingly round facial disc, barring a tiny V-shaped indentation. The Ural owl has an exceptionally long tail that bears a wedge-shaped tip. Is considered to be a stable bird species overall, with a conservation status per the IUCN as a least concern species.

Xerosecta giustii is described from one locality in the Colline Metallifere (southern Tuscany, Italy). The new species is easily distinguished from all the other species of Xerosecta, both conchological by virtue of its medium-sized, subglobose to depressed, robust shell, usually opaque, waxen, uniformly grey to whitish-grey in color, and anatomically by genitalia as in Xerosecta species, but with a voluminous genital atrium containing a large, crest-like structure. The new species has only been found in the type locality and, at present, no other species endemic to Tuscany is known to have such a reduced distribution. This population did not seem to be threatened by human activity. Live snails, however, can no longer be found. A long drought in the winter of 1992-93 and the spring of 1993 and the plowing of part of the site might be responsible for the disappearance of the population.

It is a rare plant declared a monument of nature and is protected by law. It can be found very rarely in forests or mountainous areas, it is a wild plant that blooms in May and a single lily of the valley can make up to 50 flowers. Lily flowers have several colors such as: red, pink or violet. The Martagon Lily is one of the 'must-see' flowers on any visit in spring and early summer to the Alps and mountains in central and southern Europe. It has become naturalised in parts of Northern Europe, but it's lovely to see it growing wild. The Martagon Lily is tall, growing up to a metre in height.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Adriana- Florentina Constantinescu)

LITTLE EGRET-EGRETTA GARZETTA

It is a rare bird, living especially in the&nbsp;Danube Delta in mixed colonies, especially in dwarf willows. With the arrival of autumn,&nbsp;it migrates to the Mediterranean. The color of the feathers is pure white and on the head has beautiful ornamental feathers, as well as on its back, more popular in the past as fashion jewelry.

It is a species that is increasing&nbsp;because it isn’t&nbsp;hunted anymore by humans for its&nbsp;ornamental feathers. In the months of April-May, the female lays 3 to 5 greenish-blue eggs that are boiled together with the partner. Chicks leave the nest before they can fly having great skill in climbing through the branches.

Eagle Bonelli, also called banded eagle, is one of the animal species most at risk of extinction in our country, due to anthropogenic disturbance and illegal hunting activities. The Italian population is concentrated almost entirely in Sicily, where Bonelli's eagle is resident and nesting It is estimated that about twenty pairs have survived

KARDELEN ORTAOKULU - Yalova - Turkey (Sibel Altinőz)

It is species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is small to a medium-sized nuthatch. The upper parts are blue-gray, with the front half of the crown black in adults of both sexes, but with a less marked in the female rear. The species has a black or gray eyestripe and a prominent white supercilium. The underparts are blue-gray in males and buff-gray in females, with a large, crescent-shaped rufous pectoral patch. The Krüper's nuthatch feeds on insects in the summer and seeds, especially pines, in the fall and winter. Breeding takes place between March and May, and the nest is usually placed in a tree hole. The clutch consists of five to seven eggs, incubated by the female and fed by the male. Both parents take part in feeding the young. The Krüper's nuthatch is threatened by habitat loss caused by forestry and especially by tourist development on the Turkish coasts. Although its numbers are declining, the species is considered to be of "least concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Gabriela Raluca Marcov)

Peonies are small, medium, or shrubby plants with fragrant flowers, in shades of white, red, purple, pink, and yellow. We can discover them in the Peony Forest Reserve, Babadag. The peonies here are considered vulnerable, being very rare, that's why they were inscribed in the Red List of Plants.

European mink, Mustela lutreola, is an animal in the Mustelidae family that lives in some regions of Spain, France, Romania, Ukraine, Estonia, and Russia. In the past, it lived in regions all over Europe. It is similar in appearance to the American mink. The European mink is an endangered species that has completely brown fur, except for the lips. It feeds on aquatic animals, but also on small birds and mammals.

CARRETA SEA TURTLE

Caretta sea turtle lives 100 years. It weighs 90-100 kilos and it is about one meter long. The color of its shell is red and brown. It lays its eggs on land, on beaches in Zakynthos, Peloponnesus, and Crete. Each sea turtle lays about 115 eggs every two or three years, but there are many dangers for the baby turtles. Only one out of a thousand baby sea turtles survives and there are only about 4,000 Caretta sea turtles in Greece today.

To transform unproductive forests into productive ones, forest restoration including rehabilitation is one of the best actions in Turkey. In this sense, juniper species play an important role in degraded lands because they are drought-tolerant and withstand aridity and poor soils better than most timber species grown in Turkey. Therefore, this review presents the ecological considerations for the restoration of degraded forest lands in Turkey under the conditions of climate change. Within this framework, it focuses on the production of planting stock of juniper species, the significance of site-species matching, and post-planting site maintenance for successful rehabilitation.&nbsp;

Aysun YAZICIOĞLU - Eğe Sanayi Primary School/ İstanbul TURKEY

Is a herbivorous mammal of the family Cervidae, native to the Mediterranean lands. The color of the fur is reddish-brown, with white spots on the back, in summer, while in winter the color of the fur on the back is golden brown. The fur is white on the belly and on the inside of the legs. He lives 15-18 years in freedom and 20-25 years in captivity. The horns appear only in males and reach their maximum development at the age of 10-12 years. The horns, which fall in March-April, develop again by the end of August. In Arad County, in Socodor, there are over 1,000 specimens, being the largest reserve of free black deer in Europe.

BLOOD OF THE WARRIOR

Blood of the warrior (Nigritella Rubra) is a plant in the Orchidaceae family. It has a straight stem, 8-14 cm high. The leaves are numerous and narrow, elongated, directed toward the sky. The flowers are small and numerous, gathered at the top of the stem in an oval cluster. The flowers are dark red-purple, with a pleasant vanilla scent. The root is made up of split tubers. It blooms in June and August. It is rarely found in Romania, in the Carpathian Mountains in the northeast and south.

The osprey, also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than 60 cm (24 in) in length and 180 cm (71 in) across the wings. It is brown on the upper parts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts. The osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water and providing an adequate food supply.

Monachus seal lives in the Mediterranean Sea. Its color is brown or grey. It lives 45 years. It is three meters long and weighs 300 kilos. It eats small fish, octopuses, and squid. It has one baby (pup). There are only 250 Monachus monachus seals in Greece today.

TRANSYLVANIA NAKED NECK CHICKEN

This breed is widespread throughout the Balkan Peninsula and on the Black Sea coast as far as the Caucasus and Asia Minor. In 1875 the Naked Neck chicken from Transylvania was widespread and appreciated throughout Transylvania.&nbsp;These chickens are on the verge of extinction in our country, with around 3000 specimens throughout the territory. They are Romanian species, with a rich plumage, black, white, reddish or striped and bare neck. They are not very aesthetic, but they are resistant to diseases and extreme temperatures. The breed has not been given the attention and importance it deserves, so it has now almost disappeared as a pure breed. There are still small isolated nuclei.

   The pelican, an excellent flier and a good swimmer, has a thick body, a long beak, and a yellow bag with shades of orange underneath it. It lives in the Danube Delta, being the only place in the country where it hatches. There are two species of pelicans: the common pelican and the curly pelican. It feeds on fish and frogs. In September it flies to the Nile Delta.

ROOSTER OF MOUNTAIN is a special bird that lives in the Carpathian coniferous forests. At the end of April, the males go to special places where they dance and show off their plumage in a specific ritual in order to impress the females.

SCOALA GIMNAZIALA "LUCIAN GRIGORESCU" MEDGIDIA, ROMANIA (Emilia Ciocan)

Bison is the largest land mammal in Europe. It was once present all over the continent, except in parts of Spain, Italy, and northern Scandinavia. Romania is one of the 9 European countries with bison that live in the wild. The wild bison are found in the Vânători Neamț Natural Park, Țarcu Mountains, and Făuraș Mountains. Bison is a key species for the "wilderness" phenomenon, its diet having a real impact on the vegetation. It consumes grass but also thorns, seedlings, and shrubs, thus forming forest nets and a mosaic landscape, contributes to the fertilization of meadows, threshing them, disturbing the sand and mud, and thus helps maintain a high biological diversity. They are an important source of food for carnivores such as bears, wolves, and lynx.

In the following pages, we will present some endangered plant and animal species in the countries of origin of the partner countries.

Images and information were taken from Wikipedia.ro

The Green Frog or Hyla Arborea is the only member of the tropical tree frog family that are indigene in Europe. The specific characteristics of this family are the adhesive discs placed at the finger terminations, which are used when they climb in the trees. The study regarding the growth of the green frog in captivity, as well as the type of habitat that he prefers for living and reproduction, can contribute substantially to knowledge and conservation of this specie and to the prevention of its decline.

This remarkably fast and agile migratory falcon nearly disappeared from Romania years ago due to overhunting, poisoning, and the loss of nesting sites. Conservationists are trying to reintroduce the bird back into parts of its former range.

Mountain peony grows spontaneously in dwarf bushes in the alpine area of the Carpathian Mountains. Being a plant that grows in very specific climatic and relief conditions, it does not tolerate transplants, which makes it impossible to introduce it in gardens. The beauty of its flowers, which give off a cherry-like scent and aroma that usually appear in late June and early July, and its rarity, make the mountain peony a protected and protected plant as such on the perimeter of the National Park. Bucegi. Mountain peony is perennial and keeps its leaves green all year round.

ENDLESS PLANTS AND ANIMALS IN ANATOLIA

As in the rest of the world, many animals have become extinct in Turkey from past to present and continue to go extinct. People do not stop destroying the habitats of animals in nature in order to create habitats for themselves. Animals whose habitats are destroyed either migrate to other places or face the danger of extinction. Today, with the rapid development of industry, many animals in nature are facing extinction. Some of the endangered animals in Turkey are: - fallow deer - bald ibis - bustard - lynx - Anatolian lion Some of the endangered plants in Turkey are: - lake bulbs - snow Flower - iris - crocus - sweetheart of Istanbul Our students studied endangered plants and animals by doing research. They created awareness of this issue. Afterward, they tried to make them permanent by drawing the visuals of these species.

Aysun YAZICIOĞLU Eğe Sanayi Primary School İstanbul - TURKEY

What does “endangered species” means?

An endangered species is a reduced number of biological species due to: • pollution; • hunting or overfishing; • destruction of natural habitat.

We should save these plant and animal species for the following reasons: - maintaining a stable and diversified ecosystem; - for their aesthetic, ecological, medicinal, agricultural, industrial, commercial, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value; - because the extinction of a species could cause a chain reaction that would produce ecological imbalances; Endangered species need to be protected and saved so that future generations can experience their presence and value.

One of the most important ways to help endangered plants and animals survive is to permanently protect their habitats in national parks, nature reserves, or wilderness areas where they can live without too much human interference. When visiting a national park, follow the rules for visiting. If we have friends who live on farms, we encourage them to keep pieces of bushes as wildlife habitats and to leave old trees standing, especially those with holes suitable for nesting animals. Let's get involved in the greening actions of local green spaces and nature reserves. By removing manure and weeds by replanting them with native ones, we will allow the native bush to regenerate gradually. This will also encourage native animals to return.

A beautiful and fragrant flower in danger of extinction. Let's talk about the white broom. A danger that apparently, despite the easy cultivation conditions and the non-existent difficulty of theoretical growth, concerns only Italy

I.C FRANCESCO RISO - ISOLA DELLE FEMMINE - SICILY- ITALY (Anna Maria Durante)

It lives in the central area corresponding to the national park of Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise, today about fifty bears have survived), plus some specimens in other neighboring protected areas [2], for a total oscillating between 55 and 85 bears]. The various specimens are solitary and rather territorial: each bear defines its own territory which extends from 10 to 200 km², depending on the availability of food inside.

The only antelope species that inhabited Romania is now critically endangered. Some specimens live in the nature reserve in Lunca Prutului, but they can no longer be found in the wild. The Antelope (Saiga) attracts attention because of its strange long, curved, horn-shaped nose. The shape of the nose allows running at speed through the icy air of the steppes in winter. With a very large nasal cavity, the air is heated naturally before it enters the lungs. In this way, antelopes can run at high speed long enough to escape the wolves chase.

The LYNX is the third representative of the big carnivorous animals in Romania, after the bear and the wolf. It is an average mammal, having the back legs very strong and adapted to jumping. Has a short torso, long legs, and well-developed paws, with which he runs very efficiently through the snow. The tufts at the tips of the ears give it its well-known appearance. Felina has extremely fine eyesight and hearing, being able to detect small prey in the snow from tens of meters away.

A nole bird that no longer nests in Romania and is endangered in the rest of Europe. 1-2 more specimens are observed annually in the Dobrogea area, and the plans for reintroducing a healthy population do not seem to have materialized so far. Adult specimens measure from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail 85 cm. It can weigh 2.1 kg. The plumage is white but has some spots in the tail area and the wings. Sometimes he "paints" his feathers with a powder containing iron oxide and thus his feathers acquire a significant shade of yellow. That's why the locals also call him the dirty eagle. He lives next to stone quarries and in dusty areas.

IPOMOEA IMPERATI

A cosmopolitan plant is the beach morning glory that grows in Greece on a few beaches in Crete and Rhodes. Its seeds disperse by floating in seawater.&nbsp; Ipomoea Imperati can be easily distinguished in that has white flowers. The leaves are more linear or lanceolate. It is considered an invasive species in some places.

With a maximum recorded length of 2.5 m, the Dobrogean dragon is the largest snake in Romania. Only a few dozen specimens still exist in the wild today and they continue to be killed by the locals, despite the fact that the snake is protected and not poisonous. Avoid strong sunlight. It climbs trees well and moves relatively slowly. When caught, it bites. It feeds on rodent mammals, some lizards, and birds, including eggs. The prey is first killed by constriction and then swallowed. It hunts from morning until sunset.

EDELWEISS (QUEEN'S FLOWER OR LADY'S FLOWER)

EDELWEISS is an inflorescence, surrounded by a protective leafy coating with the appearance of rays, which are confused with the petals. Unlike the petals, which fall after flowering, the protective leaves around the inflorescences persist until fruiting, so they look like immortal flowers. The entire plant and the leaves around the inflorescence are covered with white woolly hairs that protect against cold, dryness, and ultraviolet radiation.

It is widespread throughout Eurasia and is the most common bat in the northern part of the continent. It is a sedentary species. Hibernation begins in early winter (November and December) and lasts until March or April. In summer, males dwell alone, but females form a colony of 10-80 adults. A colony is formed in early summer and disbanded in August when young bats are able to fly.&nbsp; Northern bats are nocturnal and fast-flying, adapted to hunting airborne insects using&nbsp;echolocation.

It is a bird that lives in south-eastern&nbsp;Europe and temperate areas of Asia. In&nbsp;Romania some years ago was found in&nbsp;Bărăgan and in the natural reservation of&nbsp;Beba Veche, Timis county, but is&nbsp;endangered.

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