Machaon in a nutshell

We are an independent, non-profit and internationally active organization from Slovakia, established in February 2008 by two nature enthusiasts – Jozef Bednar and Svetlana Belova.

Our mission is to support national parks and other protected areas as guardians of nature and traditional culture and as places of inspiration and admiration for humankind.

Over the years, our organization has acquired a lot of experience and special skills in fund-raising, project management, international exchange, organization of study-tours, expeditions and art events.

Our main tool to accomplish our mission is the development and implementation of multi-stakeholders’ nature conservation projects that provide significant added value to local communities.

We focus on 5 priority areas:

Machaon International as any other non-governmental organization needs to find sufficient funding, so that we can continue to fulfill our mission and carry out our projects. If you are interested to make a donation, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Why are we called Machaon?

The name Machaon is for us very symbolic. In the Greek mythology, Machaon was a brave warrior and skillful surgeon. It is also used in Latin (French, Russian) for naming a beautiful eye-catching butterfly species – Yellow Swallowtail. On one hand, this delicate creature symbolizes fragility of world’s wildlife; on the other hand, as an ancient Chinese proverb reads, the flapping of the wings of a butterfly can be felt on the other side of the world. Machaon International as an organization epitomizes the flapping of butterfly wings. We believe our small actions could generate positive changes and make a lasting contribution to nature conservation.