In 1998 partnership between Swarovski Optik and "Le Balkan-Bulgaria" Foundation was established with the main goal to improve the breeding conditions of the Srebarna Biosphere reserve and to ensure the survival of the pelican colony.
As a result in the autumn of 1998 a team of the Foundation implemented several very important measures and management techniques in the colony with the financial assistance of Swarovski Optik as follows:
- About 1000 m2 of reed from the outer part of the fence were mowed to protect the colony from predators.
- The removed reed was put in the inner part of the fence as thick "sandwiches" made of reed sheaves to protect the future nests on them against flooding. Additionally the "sandwiches" were covered by a thick layer of the same plant. The total surface of the breeding space increased significantly.
- A new artificial wooden platform two-meter high was built to attract the pelicans to nest on them (as in the Manias Lake National Park, Turkey) and to avoid the disturbance by terrestrial predators.
- The fence around the colony was checked and repaired.