The Plaiul Fagului Nature Reserve – host of an information seminar organized by the Institute of Zoology and the Botanical Garden

On the 10th of October 2025, the Institute of Zoology and the Alexandru Ciubotaru National Botanical Garden (Institute), Moldova State University of Moldova, organized an information seminar in the Center for Information and Ecological Education of the Plaiul Fagului Nature Reserve.

The target groups of this seminar were the employees of the nature reserve, pupils and teachers from the Rădenii Vechi and Bahmut villages, Anenii Noi district. The seminar had an impressive audience – a total of 77 participants, most of whom were students from secondary school classes.

The participants were greeted by Mr. Ion Rodici, chief forestry engineer, Plaiul Fagului Natural Reserve, and Ms. Lucia Bilețchi, PhD, associate professor, scientific secretary of the Institute of Zoology, MSU, who also moderated the event.

Scientific researchers informed the participants about:
- insect species from the Red Book of the Republic of Moldova (Livia Calestru, PhD, Associate Professor);
- bat fauna (Vladislav Caldari, PhD);
- the current status of rare bird species in the Republic of Moldova (Natalia Sochircă, PhD);
- fish species with different rarity status and impact factors (Dumitru Bulat, Dr.Hab., Associate Professor);
- rare plant species from the Plaiul Fagului Reserve (Gheorghe Postolache, Dr.Hab., Associate Professor).

The information presented was of interest to the students, this being proven by the lively question-and-answer session.

The seminar was organised within the project „Assessment of the state of plant, fungi and animal species, development of the list of species with rarity status and the algorithm for their presentation in the 4th edition of the Red Book of the Republic of Moldova”, funded by the National Environmental Fund.

The Institute of Zoology and the Alexandru Ciubotaru National Botanical Garden (Institute) sincerely thank the employee of the Plaiul Fagului Natural Reserve, Ms. Elena Fedorenco, internal tourism guide, for her goodwill and special contribution to the organization of the seminar.

Lucia Bilețchi, PhD, Assoc.Prof.