Ivo Ivanchev is from Sofia and is a musician. However, his life-long love and interest in turtles made his childhood dream come true back in 2002 – he established then a rescue center for tortoises in the village of Banya, Nessebar Municipality. The center for rehabilitation and breeding of these wise reptiles was funded entirely by him and Ivo used his own property in the village for the purpose. In 2007 he established the Gea Chelonia Foundation – the first NGO, devoted to the study and protection of turtles. The environmental ministry has recognized the foundation as the only one, licensed to do field and scientific research in Bulgaria for the protection of the two tortoise species here – the spur-thighed and Hermann’s tortoise.

“Few people know that turtles are the most endangered vertebrate group in terms of extinction. Nearly 50 percent of the turtle species around the globe are on the threshold of extinction. Turtles are really specific animals, as we can only imagine their evolution to the current state, when their skeleton is outside the body. There are similar centers across the globe, I am aware of their existence in Greece, France, England, Italy etc.”

© Photo: www.geachelonia.org

Ivo’s rescue center is not a zoo or a place for a constant stay of tortoises, as many people think. Specimens from all over the country come here. “First we examine them, their weight, we photograph and de-worm them. Then each of them is marked with a respective number of tracks on the shell with the usage of special technology. Thus they have their IDs, they are registered and can be recognized among wild nature, Ivo Ivanchev says.

“The problems are related mainly to the destroying of turtles’ habitats. It concerns nature as a whole, of course. Being slower, turtles are the first to be wiped out in the course of any construction or agricultural activities. Stupid beliefs have caused their gathering and killing for years – people think their blood cures different diseases, or simply eat them. Illegal trade is also a crucial factor – many people raise turtles at home, not knowing that this is forbidden by the law and the species is a protected one. Many of our tortoises have been injured in activities like the ones mentioned above. Some of them have been confiscated by the authorities.”

© Photo: www.geachelonia.org

The efforts of the young enthusiast are not limited only with the rescuing of damaged specimens. One of his goals is to introduce tortoises to more and more people – their food, their living habits, their kinds and also which ones can be seen in Bulgaria. After a long period of correspondence with foreign organizations in 2009 Ivo Ivanchev won one of the small projects for the construction of a visitor’s center, funded by the Global Environment Facility, headquartered in New York. Presentations can take place there, student visits can be organized etc. Ivo has won another project, this time for a comparative research of tortoises. Another foreign organization funds it again – the British People’s Trust for Endangered Species. The project is related to the protection of the two tortoise species along the southern Bulgarian Black Sea coastline.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev