Photography: loving nature, and protecting it

In this Prishtina Talks presentation, the wildlife photographer and nature conservation activist Arian Mavriqi — who gives day and night to a passion that is rare in our part of the world — takes up in depth his road as a documenter of Kosovo's wildlife, the pressures our ecosystems face, and the vital importance of protecting animals and birds.

Mavriqi tells how his passion for nature photography began — from the inspiration of watching the great international documentaries, among them the work of Joe and Terri Edmondson on protecting animals from Somali pirates, through to the decision, after years in journalism, to give himself entirely to documenting the wildlife of Kosovo. He describes the turning point: posting his photographs on social media, he realised that most people did not know the rare animals and birds he was photographing existed in Kosovo at all — and that was precisely the problem in need of urgent attention.

In the central part, Mavriqi looks at the concrete problems: illegal hunting that has wiped out rare species, habitats destroyed for construction, industrial pollution, and the general ignorance of institutions and public alike about the value of Kosovo's biodiversity. He points out that Kosovo takes its own name from a bird — the blackbird, Turdus merula — and that what is needed now is serious law, and the enforcement of it, to protect the “big five” of Kosovo's fauna: the bear, the wolf, the deer, the roe deer and the lynx. Beyond the ecological argument he sets out the economic one: migratory birds alone consume billions of insects every year that would otherwise damage agriculture.

The lecture closes with a direct call for change: why Kosovo needs real national parks, programmes to protect endangered species, and public and scientific education about nature, and why every citizen carries a share of the responsibility for the wildlife around us, which is part of who we are.

Some of the points covered: 📌 A personal road: from journalism to wildlife photography 📌 The inspiration of the great international documentary makers 📌 Discovering that the biodiversity of Kosovo is rich, but unknown 📌 The origin of the name “Kosova” in the blackbird 📌 The economic role of birds in keeping insects in check 📌 The “big five” of Kosovo's fauna: bears, wolves, deer and the rest 📌 Illegal hunting, the destruction of habitats, and pollution 📌 The need for real national parks and for public education

📍 Prishtina Talks