The Association includes Green Balkans and Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation, as well as the companies Silva 2003 Ltd, Ecological Centre Ltd, Sterna Consult and PDM Services Ltd. It is established for the purpose of participating in the tender, in order to bring together expert and management specialists, who will answer high requirements for management of such a type of protected area and the public expectations for real protection of Pirin.
The management plan is “the constitution” of every protected area and delineates clearly the priorities, the norms and the regimes within it. This is the master document in the work of the park’s Directorate, which provides an answer to every question, related to the zoning and the rules in Pirin National Park. This is why it is of extraordinary importance how the plan will be prepared, what its philosophy will be, and how the opinion of the stakeholders, living around the Park or care about its protection, will be taken into account.
In the preparation of the Plan, Pirin 2014 Association will be governed by observing the laws of Bulgaria, and based on highly qualified research and analyses and with the devotion to the nature of Pirin, we will guarantee preservation of the site in UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage list. The greatest challenge for the team will be the interaction with the stakeholders, due to the significant local, national, and even world importance of the park. The development of a management plan is a complex process, which includes gathering of the whole information about the park, characteristics and abiotic and biotic factors, cultural and social-economic characteristics, First and Second assessment, defining long-term goals and restrictions, as well as norms, regimes, conditions and recommendations for conducting activities. Another very important part of the process is related to informing the public and preparation of various materials, trainings, meetings, as well as public discussion of the proposed project for the plan in Bansko. In the documentation of the contracting authority of the tender procedure (Pirin National Park Directorate) concrete requirements about the experience of the candidate, staff and qualification of the team, content of the technical offer, as well as maximum admissible values for each of the concrete activities in preparation of the plan are indicated. The regulations in the Public Orders Act and the procedure of the contracting authority are used in the assessment and rating of the participants in the procedure. When the criterion for selection of contractor is the economically most advantageous offer (as is in this case), the commission assesses the quality of the technical proposal and the proposed price.
Pirin 2014 Association summoned a competent team of experts, including scientists from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), specialists with experience in plan development, and people knowing well the area (Chavdar Gusev, Toma Belev, Alexander Bardarov, Rostislav Bekchiev, Katerina Rakovska, and others), suggested good research approaches, risk managements, and interaction with stakeholders, as well as a competitive price for execution of the proposal. The submitted documentation answers the requirements, pointed by the contracting authority, and this is the reason Pirin 2014 was chosen as a contractor for this not an easy task, whose time deadlines are rather short, in view of the finishing of the project of the Directorate of Pirin National Park.
The participants in the association have a long-term engagement for protection of Pirin, since among them is also the project executor (BBF), which has developed the present management plan, thanks to which and despite all “the appetites for absorption”, the park has been preserved so far. That is why it is important not to allow to be developed a plan, which will tolerate “development”, at the expense of protected environment, or such which will serve certain economic interests.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PIRIN 2014 ASSOCIATION AND ABOUT THE PROJECT TEAM, WHICH WILL DEVELOP THE MANAGEMENT PLAN:
The Association was created in the beginning of 2013 with the purpose to apply in the procedure of development of a management plan for Pirin National Park, to continue to apply the philosophy of the present management plan, and to build on what has been achieved, as well as to combine the efforts of environment organizations and firms with experience and expert potential in the development of the most important document for management of protected areas – their management plan.
Partners in Pirin 2014 are Green Balkans nature conservation organization, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation, Ecological Center Ltd, Silva 2003 Ltd, PDM Services Ltd, and Sterna Consult.
Green Balkans non-profit organization is established in 1988, and is one of the biggest and authoritative NPOs in Bulgaria. The organization has a significant contribution in the development of a national ecology network with proposals for establishing of more than 26 protected areas with a total area of 650,000 hectares. Green Balkans has provided to the state the invaluable services of building European NATURA 2000 network (in the part of the natural habitats). ). http://www.greenbalkans.org/
Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF) is the successor of the created in 1994 inter-governmental Bulgarian-Swiss programme for biodiversity protection (BSBPP), which complements MEW efforts for protection of biodiversity in 7 key regions – Central Balkan, Dobrudzha, Bourgas wetlands, Ropotamo, Strandzha, East Rodopi, and Pirin. A ten-year plan of management of Pirin National Park was also developed within the framework of BSBPP. The plan was prepared with active public participation, and has allowed the Directorate of Pirin National Park to manage and protect the area in a sustainable way, in spite of powerful investment pressure with regards to parts of the protected area. http://www.bbf.biodiversity.bg/
Silva 2003 Ltd is one of the most authoritative private companies, specialized in the field of inventory of forest territories, preparation of forestry enterprise plans, hunting activities plans, forest fires protection activities, charting of habitats. It has completed 19 forestry enterprise plans for its ten years of operation, and other four are in the process of development. The firm boasts a very good team of nine forestry engineers, one geodetic engineer, one landscape engineer and one programmer http://silva.bgforest.com/.
Ecological Center Ltd is established in August in 2011 with scope of business in the field of environment protection, including professional activities, scientific research, expert consultations and services, collection and distribution of information and creative products, preparation, printing and disseminations of publications, and others. The experience of the firm in the field of preparation of management of protected areas and zones plans comes from completion of a contract with Balgarka Nature Park (as a part of Balgarka Association), funded by Environment 2007-2013 operative programme for inventory of fauna in sectors invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals, as per approved Management plan task. In the field of consultancy services for research of biodiversity, several projects have been completed. The firm works with highly qualified experts with many years of experience in study and protection of environment.
Sterna Consult is a specialized company, providing services in the field of preparation and management of project proposals and activities in the field of environment. The firm applies the experience and best practices of various international partners and possesses a network of associated experts in various sectors and fields. Among the members of the team are established experts, valuers and consultants in various EU programmes http://www.sternaconsult.com/.
PDM Services Ltd is established in 2006 by experts of great experience in the field of environment protection and biodiversity, sustainable development, ecotourism, forestry, regional development, capacity building, etc. The members of the team have proved their professionalism in completing a number of projects, tasks, and initiatives at national and international level, as well as in their work as consultants for national and international organizations and institutions http://www.pdm-services.eu/ .
KEY EXPERTS IN THE TEAM OF PIRIN 2014 ASSOCIATION ARE:
Alexander Bardarov – team manager
Master of Science in Forestry, ten plus years of experience in project management in environment and biodiversity, as well as in development of management plans of over ten protected areas.
Toma Belev – assistant manager of the team and expert in protected areas management. One of the best specialists in environment protection, who has participated in the process of establishing of a great number of protected areas in Bulgaria, including three nature parks and a number of protected areas. His expertise in the field of protected areas management includes participation in the preparation of the normative base in the tourism legislation, a number of strategic documents of environment and forests protection, manuals of planning and contribution in development of a few management plans, including those of Pirin National Park, Shumensko Plateau Nature Park, and Persina Nature Park. Toma Belev is Chair of the Management Board of Green Balkans conservation NGO, a post that he holds on a voluntary basis, as a contribution to the organization.
Chavdar Gusev – Flora expert
He has twenty plus years of experience at the Botany Institute (now named Biodiversity and Ecosystems Research Institute) at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), chief assistant at section Applied Botany. He is a member of Bulgarian Botany Association, and of the Organization for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area (OPTIMA) and the Association for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEEC). He is author of fifty plus publications in the so-called Red Book of Bulgaria. He has a great experience in flora and natural habitats research, and is participant in the production of three management plans of protected areas.
Phd Rostislav Bekchiev – Fauna expert
He works as chief assistant at National Natural Science Museum at BAS. He has 20 plus years of experience as terrain researcher of invertebrate fauna in Bulgaria and on the Balkan Peninsula. He has over 15 scientific publications. He has participated as a leader of a team for chartering and specifying of the state of the environment of natural habitats and species of Natura 2000 network, as well as preparation of management of protected areas plans.
Associate profession Phd Petar Zhelev – expert in natural habitats/forests
Assistant rector and lecturer at Sofia University of Forestry. Member of Specialized Scientific Council in forestry and ecology at Higher Attestation Commission (since 2007), member of Science Council at Botany Institute – BAS (since 2008); Member of International Committee Forests, forestry products and functions of the programme COST - European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research; Represenative of Bulgaria in the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) – since 2005; Representative of Bulgaria in international expert group Climatic Changes and Biodiversity at Bern Convention (Council of Europe) – since 2007 (since 2010 – Chair of the group). Member of Management Board of Bulgarian Botany Asscociation. He has 25 plus years of professional experience in the field of study of biodiversity in various categories protected areas and other natural ecosystems.
Radostina Tasheva – expert in public relations
Master in public relations and master in ecology and ecological investigation. She has 15 years of experience in public relations, ecology educations and education at national level and more specifically in Strandzha, Belasitsa and the region of the Green belt, Burgas lakes and others.
Maria Kehayova – expert in GIS
Master in engineering physics with 7 plus years of professional experience in the field of applied geographic information systems, preparation of thematic maps, management of local databases and others.
The New Management Plan of Pirin National Park will be prepared by those who care about the park’s protection
