Four projects for NATURA 2000 of Bulgarian environmentalist NGOs are finalists in a European Commission competition

The prize is awarded to the most successful projects which contributed to conservation and management of the European environmental network NATURA 2000. The awards have been bestowed since 2013 to popularize the efforts of all European countries to preserve the protected areas of NATURA 2000 and to recognize the achievements of the different organizations and institutions. The slogan of the 2016 NATURA 2000 Award is “Treasure to wait to be discovered”. The award ceremony will be held in Brussels on 23 May 2016. Everybody could support the Bulgarian projects for a kind of "an award of the public”.

Which are the four project finalists of Bulgaria?

1. The project of "Green Balkans – Stara Zagora" for The Lesser Kestrel Recovery is one of the most successful practical activities in the contemporary Bulgarian environment protection. It led to the return of a species extinct for our country– the lesser kestrel, after decades when there was no data for its nesting in Bulgaria. During the2013-2015 period over 200 small lesser kestrels flied at freedom. They were introduced from Spain, reproduced in aviary conditions in the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre in Stara Zagora or hatched within the newly established colony. Currently in the Mountain of Sakar about 10 couples are nesting which use the artificial nests especially put for this aim. The project includes also a number of other activities – from sustainable management of grass habitats to work with children and local people, marking and tracking of birds from the colony with satellite transmitters and daily monitoring.

2. The project "For the Balkan and people" is implemented in the Western and Central Balkan within 9 NATURA 2000 areas, the natural parks Balgarka and Vrachanski Balkan and National park Central Balkan. It deals with ecosystem services, support of farmers who breed their flocks or bees in NATURA 2000 areas, organizes children’s nature academy Uzana and protects local breeds. Under the project five Bulgarian organizations work - Foundation for organic agriculture Bioselena, Association of the parks in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation , WWF Bulgaria, Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, four Swiss organizations – Pro Natura/Friends of the Earth, REDD, Birdlife Switzerland and Foundation SAVE, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods via the Executive Agency for Selection and Reproduction in Livestock Breeding. It is implemented with the financial support of the Bulgarian-Swiss Cooperation Programme.

3. The project for Danube sturgeons consevation in Bulgaria and Romania of the international environmentalist organization WWF in Bulgaria, Romania and Austria aims to manage with the over-catch which is the main direct threat for the survival of these fish known as the “Danube dinosaurs”. It was worked with fishermen, law enforcement authorities, responsible political representatives, farms for breeding and rearing of sturgeon fish, processors and traders of caviar in Romania and Bulgaria. The project is funded by EU LIFE+ programme and follows the recommendations of the action plan for the conservation of sturgeon fish in the Danube basin, adopted by the Council of Europe in 2005.

4. The conservation of the habitats of the rarest European waterfowl – the lesser white-fronted goose, whose numbers decrease threateningly in South-Eastern Europe, connected partners as the Greek ornithological society, the Ministries of the Environment of Greece and Finland, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and WWF Finland. Urgent measures were undertaken for conservation of the places where the birds winter and rest, combined with work for improvement of the legislation, increase of the awareness and educational initiatives in the 15 countries over which the route of this bird passes. The project is funded by the EU LIFE+ programme and the Norwegian Fund for Environment.