The Bulgarian Minister of Environment and Water, Ivelina Vasileva, who was also present at the meeting of the environment ministers, stressed the importance of the directives and revealed her support for maintaining their current level as well as their better implementation, which she identified as key.
WWF brings to mind the necessity of a clear and consistent Bulgarian stance regarding the preservation of the European network of protected areas Natura 2000. Before the meeting the of ministers, 11 EU member-states, including all EU member-states from the Balkans, had come forward with an official position for preservation of the current level of the Natura 2000 directives as well as an invocation for their qualitative implementation. Bulgaria – the country with the third largest area within Natura 2000 (only behind Slovenia and Croatia) – is waiting for the European commission’s analysis of the ecological network’s implementation, at least for the time being.
‘’WWF is doing its best to make sure Natura 2000 is built in such a manner so that the sustainable conservation of natural resources is ensured.’’ – WWF’s Programme Director, Veselina Kavrakova, reminded. ‘’ In order to accomplish that, we assisted the government in harmonizing the legislation in the field of nature conservation with the EU, contributed to the addition of key beech habitats and 35 protected areas of more than 50 000 hectares along Danube’s subsidiary streams to the ecological network, we worked hard for the establishment of the scientific community and the administrative aspects of the Natura 2000 establishment, and we also played a part in the identification of the Black Sea habitats, thanks to which Bulgaria and Romania have imported their proposals for the delineation of the Black Sea biogeographical region.’’ – Kavrakova added.
The European commission is conducting an assessment of Natura 2000’s effectiveness, which included a public consultation to gather EU citizens’ views on the matter. A record number of people participated in the consultation, with more than 520 000 highlighting their support for the preservation of the current form of the ecological network and its effective implementation.
The European Environment Ministers have promised to support Natura 2000
