A number of Bulgarian institutions, among which the National Assembly and the Presidency, have already confirmed in the worldwide initiative the Earth Hour, which will be held on 19 March from 20.30 to 21.30 p.m. The WWF action is organized for a tenth year in succession all over the world and aims by symbolical turning off the lights to make people think about the planet conservation and the reasonable usage of its resources.
Traditionally the institutions which join the initiative turn off or subdue their façade lighting and in this way they support the cause.
Until now over 70 Bulgarian municipalities have confirmed their participation in the Earth Hour. These are:
Aksakovo, Alfatar, Assenovgrad, Beloslav, Blagoevgrad, Brazigovo, Berkovitsa, Belovo, Botevgrad, Bourgas, Byala, Varna, Veliko Turnovo, Vidin, Velingrad, Vetovo, Gabrovo, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Gotse Delchev, Galabovo, Dve Mogili, Dimitrovgrad, Dobrich, Dolni Dabnik, Dupnitsa, Ivanovo, Kavarna, Kazanlak, Karlovo, Kirkovo, Letnitsa, Lom. Lukovit, Maglizh, Mezdra, Montana, Nova Zagora, Oryahovo, Panagyurishte, Pavel Banya, Pavlikeni, Petrich, Peshtera, Pleven, Plovdiv, Parvomai, Pernik, Polski Trambesh, Radomir, Razgrad, Rousse, Sapareva Banya, Svoge, Silistra, Simitli, Sredets, Stara Zagora, Smolyan, Strumyani, Sofia, Septemvri, Teteven, Tryavna, Troyan, Tsarevo, Tsenovo, Chirpan, Chepelare, Shabla.
In many towns the people will gather at a central place to share the hour dedicated to the planet. In Sofia the meeting will be in front of the National Theatre “Ivan Vazov”. Everybody is invited to carry a headlamp, a candle, a guitar or other musical instrument to make the moment more variegated, interesting and pleasant with joint efforts. Traditionally actors also participate, who present art installations with fire and dance.
This year the Earth Hour is aimed at the climate actions. The appeal is that everybody should use their influence in the social networks to prompt their friends and followers to take part in the efforts for reduction of the human impact on the climate. The Bulgarian users can use the hashtag # the Earth Hour; thus everyone could follow what messages have been sent. The people who care about nature are invited to upload their video, text or visual appeal to make their message more effective.
Also in March WWF celebrates 10 years since its registration in Bulgaria. We celebrate our anniversary with days of the open online doors. We make events in Facebook where everybody could ask a question about our activity in a certain sphere. The sessions dedicated on conservation of the rivers, lakes and wetlands and of the green economy ran by great interest. We expect such interest also at the session which will be dedicated on forests. It is due on 18 March, Friday, on the day before the Earth Hour, and everyone could ask us what we do for the conservation of the Bulgarian forest. Soon we envisage a session dedicated on our work on the protected areas, including the national parks Pirin and Rila and natural park Vitosha, whose draft management plans are in a procedure of consideration.
The National Assembly and the Presidency support the Earth Hour
