2015 – Year of the lagoon of Lake Atanasovsko
2015 was a year filled with events dedicated to Lake Atanasovsko because for the first time ever the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation’s (BBF) tradition to dedicate the year to an endangered plant or animal species was broken in favour of a geographical place. It was the year of Lake Atanasovsko – a lagoon at the coast of the sea and the edge of the city!
We started with a lovely calendar dedicated to the lagoon, continued with an exciting Day of St. Atanas at the Morsko casino, where we showed a music video which was shot at the lake. We celebrated World Wetlands Day, and then we presented the lagoon and the “year” in front of students from the Biology faculty of the Sofia University. Then, spring cleaning time came, and with it the “Laguna clean dzhambure” in the birdwatching area of Ukritieto (from Bulgarian: “the shelter”) in April. A drone flew over the lake and showed its beauty in all its colours and shapes.
The carnival of biodiversity brought together dozens of children dressed as birds, crabs, frogs, and many more, on the “Ohlyuva” stage in May. Meanwhile, the symbiosis of a few young artists gave birth to an exhibition dedicated to the Lake Atanasovsko, the birds, the people, and the salt. The art is now touring the country and has been seen by approximately 10,000 people.
In August, many friends of Ukritieto came together to learn how to weave wicker in celebration of the natural reserve’s birthday. Then a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) arrived, the magic of the Festival of Salt gathered hundreds at the southern salt lands, and photographers from all over the country came to shoot the colours and faces of the lake. In October, our educational programme along the path “Patekata na sabeklyuna” (“The path of the pied avocet”) started, and within a month 200 schoolchildren from Burgas had walked down it.
The experiment “simBiotichno” talks about the Lake Atanasovsko
A unique exhibition dedicated to the Lake Atanasovsko has been travelling around the country and enjoying great success in the cities it visits. It is an interactive travelling exhibition with the unusual name “simBiotichno” (“simBiotic”) and it talks about the links and relationships between the inhabitants of the lake and its ecosystem, about the birds, the salt, the climate, and the possible balance between man and nature.
Authors of the exhibition are Diana Pavlova – ecologist, Marina Surbova and Galina Milkova – architects, and the designer Nedko Nikolov. More about the exhibition.
Recovery of the lake after the heavy floods in the beginning of 2015
As a result of intensive rainfall and dam leakage in the beginning of February 2015, Lake Atanasovsko’s water level rose by 1 meter on average. The flood bypass failed to convey the excess waters which resulted in flooding of the entire infrastructure and its partial destruction. The salt level decreased to amounts critical both for the ecosystem and the technology of salt extraction. All ecological, hydrological, and physiochemical parameters in the lake were disrupted.
An assessment of the damage caused by the flood was made. A priority was to pump out the excess water and to reach a healthier water level. Damaged sections of the channels were repaired, as well as any damaged embankments and shafts, with priority given to those with utmost technological significance, and later those that were important for nesting birds. Other damaged elements of the technical infrastructure were repaired, such as roads, power supply, and the hydrological regime with appropriate physiochemical parameters and the movement of water between different basins.
Lake Atanasovsko Brigade 2015
Between the 21st and 30th August, BSPB organized a conservation brigade “Lake Atanasovsko 2015” which included around 50 volunteers from the country and one from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), UK.
Similarly to last year, the main tasks this year were also to build and repair nesting platforms, i.e. islands, which are safe spaces where avocets, terns, and plovers can rear their offspring. Filling and putting heavy sacks of mussels next to the platforms provided a suitable substrate for the birds to raise their offspring this spring. More.
The reserve’s birthday
BBF and RIE-Burgas organized a special event “Ptitsi, pletenitsi i hamatsi” (“Birds, weavings, and hammocks”) for the 35th birthday of the Lake Atanasovsko reserve. People travelled from Ohlyuva to Ukritieto by bike, roller skates, and scooters.
Everyone who was interested participated in a wicker weaving workshop. The local master weaver Stanko Kirilov from the village of Bulgarovo showed us how to weave so we could create screens along the “Patekata na sabeklyuna” path to reduce the birds’ disturbance by future visitors. There were also more passive activities, such as birdwatching or relaxing on hammocks between the trees in the area in front of Ukritieto, as well as a huge birthday cake.
Aerial yoga, dancing in the mud, and rhythm and salt for the soul at the Festival of Salt
On the last Friday of August, the Festival of Salt gathered people from all over the country at Lake Atanasovsko’s shore for an unusual salt-filled celebration. For the third year in a row various activities for children, art events, and challenges for the body and mind attracted a diverse group of people along the lagoon.
The theme this year was “Symbiosis” – the natural phenomenon where two or more organisms derive mutual benefit from their close interaction. It is represented by the Lake Atanasovsko itself – an invisible network of complex interactions, a mysterious organism which lives and breathes close to the heart of Burgas.
Drone over the lagoon
Thanks to the award from the donations programme of Moto-Pfohe for conservation of Bulgaria’s natural and cultural heritage, a new Phantom 2+ drone was acquired and used for theoretical and practical exercises, as well as training to use the drone itself.
Appropriate areas of the Lake Atanasovsko were surveyed, taking into account the proximity to Burgas Airport and the danger of the drone crashing into a plane. In April, after gaining enough experience and perfecting the flight procedures, we organized a public event for the official start of the project and we introduced the drone and the technology to the media and the citizens of Burgas. Here is what happened to our drone throughout the course of nearly a year…
Public council, June 2015
Various important issues related to the lake were discussed during the fifth meeting of the Public council regarding the Lake Atanasovsko, which was held on June 30th, 2015. The topic of discussion was “Trends in hydrological and hydrobiological conditions in the Lake Atanasovsko”.
The cosy conference hall of the Business incubator welcomed the members of the council – representatives of the Burgas municipality, of the River Basin Directorate for the Black Sea region – Varna and Burgas, LRD Sokol, BDZP, and others. More.
Partnership with the airport
Just before the arrival of the British music icon Robbie Williams for Spirit of Burgas, the project team of “The Salt of Life”, in partnership with Burgas airport, exhibited the installation SALIGHT, which explores the interaction between salt and light, as well as salt’s qualities as a material for product design.
In the arrivals sector, all tourists and guests of the region could see the poetic recreation of the crystallizing of sea salt in the pink basins of Lake Atanasovsko which contain concentrated sea water.
SALIGHT is an installation created by Think Forward (architect Galina Milkova and product designer Nedko Nikolov).
Carnival of Biodiversity
For the fifth year, Burgas was home to the fun and colourful Carnival of Biodiversity, an event which gathers on one stage the youngest residents of the city, dressed and masked as wonderful, and at the same time very real, animals, plants, and recycled creatures.
BBF, in partnership with Burgas Municipality, RIOSV-Burgas, and Pobeda AD, created a nature conservation celebration in which the participants presented frogs, cattails, storks, ibises, beetles, irises, and even an exotic flamingo.
An updated plan for the management of the reserve
The management plan for the Lake Atanasovsko reserve is an important strategic document regarding both the current situation at the lake and future development, projects and programmes.
BBF is the organization behind the first management plan and for over 20 years now it has implemented various activities, alone or in a partnership, for the maintenance, restoration, protection, and promotion of the lake.
This is the reason why we carefully considered the proposal for an updated management plan and gave our contribution towards its improvement so the document not only serves in the coming years as effectively as the previous plan but also adds a contemporary and adequate base for conservation and the sustainable development of the area. More on BBF’s position.
Presenting the salt and the profession solnichar (salt-extractor) at various forums
In 2015, the project team put great efforts into presenting the salt from the lake and the solnichar profession, which is about to disappear, at different forums.
On the 25th September BBF participated in the festival “Days of regional, traditional, crafted, and tourist products in the Black Sea basin” in the centre of Burgas outside the “Lukoil-Neftohim” (house of culture??) and presented some of the solnichar tools and the different types of salt that are extracted from the lake.
On October 24th we presented the sea salt as part of Slow Food’s treasury of tastes during the “Fruits of the Earth” fair in Sofia in the garden of the newly-opened Muzeiko.
On the 21st of November 2015, in the National Palace of Culture, “The Salt of Life” lecture by Diana Kostovska was presented as part of the festival Divino.Taste 2015. The manager of the project “The Salt of Life” talked about traditional salt extraction in the natural oasis of the Lake Atanasovsko, about the treasure that is salt, about the Bulgarian Fleur de Sel.
Third issue of the electronic bulletin of the project “The Salt of Life”
