22. May 2025

Students Met the European Pond Turtle “Emi” and Learned About the Importance of Biodiversity

As part of Slovenian Parks Week, on Monday, May 19, 2025, the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park celebrated the International Day for Biological Diversity and Emys Day (European Pond Turtle Day).

Sixty students from Sečovlje Primary School, accompanied by five teachers, took part in a guided tour to explore the richness of this unique environment, shaped over time by the interaction between humans and nature. Special attention was given to a hidden resident of the Sečovlje salt pans—the European pond turtle, Slovenia’s only native freshwater turtle species. The students got to know the turtle “Emi” through games and various workshops.

Educational materials used during the event were developed as part of the LIFE URCA PROEMYS project, in which the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park, together with seven Italian and one Slovenian partner, is working to improve the status of the endangered European pond turtle populations in Slovenia and Italy. The school also received both Slovenian and Italian editions of the picture book “The Adventures of Little Emi”. The book, written by Iztok Škornik, was also created within the PROEMYS project.

The project is co-financed by the European Union through the LIFE program and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning.

Information and interesting facts about the Sečovlje Salina Nature Park are available on the updated website www.kpss.si – you are warmly invited to visit. More detailed information about the European pond turtle and the LIFE URCA PROEMYS project can be found at www.urcaproemys.eu.