Projects of Green Balkans, WWF, BBF and BSPB receive recognition together with the best in Europe

“We are proud to have been recognized among the best projects in the category “Nature” of the European Commission, because for less than five years we succeeded to achieve our main goal – recovery of the griffon vulture as a nesting species in Stara Planina (Balkan Mountain), where the species had disappeared for more than 50 years. We introduced and set free 210 griffon vultures, and in 2015 we were happy to witness the first newly hatched free little one in the region of Vratsa Balkan, and one year after the successful completion of the project, there are two newly-created colonies: in Vratsa Balkan Nature Park and in East Stara Planina, and now more than eight newly-hatched free ones of parents which were set free along this project. We established contact with hundreds of farmers, stock-breeders, veterinarians, hunters, school children, tourists and visitors,” tells Elena Kmetova, leader of one of Bulgarian representatives: “Recovery of the populations of bigger European vultures in Bulgaria” from “Green Balkans-Stara Zagora”. The project was run together with Fund for Wide Fauna and Flora and the Society for Protection of Birds of Prey.

Among the awarded was also “Protection and recovery of 11 types of natural habitats around rivers and wetlands in 10 Natura 2000 areas in Bulgarian forests” of the Executive Forests Agency, WWF and the directorates of 10 natural parks. “We worked four years to develop programs for recovery of 13 rare species of plants, with most of which nobody had worked, we returned them to four nature parks, recovered forest habitats on area of more than 800 decares in seven nature parks, and for the first time grew over 1400 decares of young forests in Strandzha, WWF Bulgaria leader Veselina Kavrakova recaps.

“We succeeded thanks to the support of the Executive Forests Agency, the nature parks and from lots of volunteers, we organized the biggest clean-ups of nature parks in three successive years with the participation of 9400 people, who collected 36 tons of waste. We studied and used new methods – collected very valuable experience – the live heritage of the project,” Katerina Rakovska, WWF project manager, says.

The project LIFE+ “Life for Burgas Lakes” is the third project from Bulgaria which is awarded. It is implemented by BSPB with the partnership of Burgas Munisipality, Chernomorski Solnitsi AD, Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) (Great Britain). The goal of the project is establishing a long-term protection of three protected zones of the network Natura 2000 and five priority bird species - the Dalmatian pelican, the pygmy cormorant, the great bittern, the white-headed duck, the ferruginous duck, as well as sustainable management of their habitats. BSPB’s team, with the help of the project partners, recovered 4 hectares of open water areas in protected area Poda, built 11 artificial islands for birds nesting in the wetlands areas around Burgas, mended 14.5 kilometers of dykes and banks in the maintained reserve “Atanasovsko lake” and made safe 8.7 kilometers of dangerous for birds electric distribution line leading to Atanasovsko lake. The efforts of the environmentalists were requited – for the first time in 18 years the pygmy cormorant is nesting again in the protected area Poda.

We remind that in May, a project, in which four members of the coalition “Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria” participate, was awarded by the European Commission with the award Natura 2000 in the category “Social-economic benefits”. Bulgarian project for nature protection “For the Balkan and the People”, which is implemented by Bulgarian and Swiss organizations, received the award personally from EU Commissioner for Environment Karmenu Vella.

Photos from the ceremony: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eu_environment/sets/72157668529358962
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