Two ministries send missions to UNESCO asking construction of ski runs and lifts in Pirin National Park to be allowed

It is outrageous that no representative of the environment ministry participated in the meeting, which is responsible for UNESCO world heritage sites. The idea of excluding new parts of Pirin from the UNESCO site has never been offered for discussion to Bulgarian public.

Environmentalists learnt from governmental institutions’ official broadcasts that on July 15, 2015, in Paris, the directors of “Administrative legal service” at Tourism and Sports Ministries, together with the boss of the firm, which prepares the new Pirin National Park Management Park, had suggested a considerable trimming of Pirin’s world heritage.

In the minutes of the meeting of the Bulgarian representatives with Rao can be seen, that the idea of new tourist zones planned by the firm Proles Engineering, which will take 10% of the territory of Pirin National Park, to be excluded from the World Heritage site, was put forward to him.

The Ministries of Sports and Tourism have long been lobbying openly for enlarging Bansko ski zone into other parts of Pirin National Park. At the moment this is not allowed by the Protected Areas Act and by the present Management Plan of the national park.

UNESCO excluded the zones over Bansko and Dobrinishte from the World Heritage site in 2010, on the conclusion that the nature there was irreversibly annihilated and urbanized.

However, UNCESCO’s Kishore Rao’s answer proved a cold shower for Bulgarian representatives endeavors.

- If Ministry of Tourism wants to develop tourism, it does not have to be within the boundaries of the world heritage site Pirin – the whole other territory of the country is available for that purpose.

- UNESCO’s world heritage convention requires detailed plans for management of all zones, and if the plan for Pirin envisages tourism activity, environment impact assessment (EIA) will be required. At the moment the prepared draft management plan for Pirin National Park is neither detailed, not there is a report on environment impact assessment.

- The Pirin National Park draft Management Plan is unacceptable in its present state.

- Bulgaria has suggested and the Convention has accepted that within the boundaries of the world heritage site Pirin ski sport will not be developed, but the suggestion discussed at the moment is just the opposite of this position.

The Ministry of Tourism explains that it sent its official to Paris, in order that “we are clear about the procedures and the development of the park’s management plan.”

The coalition “Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” asks the Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova:

- Who is your employer? It is apparent it is not the taxpayer, because you have not presented to the public the ideas about reducing the site of world heritage Pirin National Park. It is not Council of Ministers, because there has been no discussion there either.

- Did you inform the Ministry of Environment and Water about the results of the meeting with UNESCO in Paris at all?

- The attempts so far of the Ministry of Tourism to initiate ideas for construction in protected areas are apparently not to be attributed only to the youth and inexperience of its officials. Who does influence your agenda, Minister Angelkova?

Pirin National Park is declared a World Heritage site with UNCESCO’s Convention for protection of world heritage in 1983 with an area of 24,000 hectares. The area of Pirin National Park as a protected area as per Bulgarian law is over 40,000 hectares.

And here are a few links:
- Minutes of the meeting in Paris - http://www.ekoarhiv.bg/dokumenti/otgovor-ot-mvnr-po-zdoi-s-protokol-ot-sreshta-v-parizh-s-yunesko-i-razrabotvashtite-pu
- Information from the Ministry of Tourism - http://www.ekoarhiv.bg/dokumenti/otgovor-ot-mt-po-zdoi-za-sreshta-v-parizh-s-yunesko-za-pu-pirin-avgust-2015