The small villages of Bojurets and Topola are located between the towns of Balchik and Kavarna. They are nearly depopulated now but the surrounding nature is unique. On the landsliding terrace above the sea, which not long ago was virgin and incredibly beautiful, diverse rare and endangered animal and plant species had one оf their last refuges on our urbanized and concrete-covered Black Sea coast. On the white limestone slopes full of fossils of the warm disappeared Sarmatian sea one can see steppe plants some of which can be found only in this region of Bulgaria and even in the world. These are the unique aromatic stock (Mathiola Odoratissima), Goniolimon Besseranum, Jurinea Stoechadifolia), Alyssum Caliacrae, Nepeta Parviflora, Ephedra Distachya, Artemisia Lerchiana) and others. On the steep white screes over the sea Rhus Coryaria creates unique communities practically having no analogue in Bulgaria.
The fauna in this location is also incredibly abundant. Many tortoises are found (Testudo Graeca), the legless lizard (Ophisaurus Apodus), rare insects and tens of bird species - such as the pied wheatear (Oenanthe Pleschanka) – actually its most numerous population in Bulgaria is here, the calandra lark ( (Melanocorypha Calandra), many species of warblers (Sylvidae), the owl (Bubo Bubo), the black and the alpine swifts (Apus Apus, Apus Melba), the long-legged buzzard (Buteo Rufinus), the levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter Brevipes), the stone curlew (Burhinus Oedicnemus) and many others.
The combination of the beautifully blossoming steppe plants on the white limestone slopes, the shadows of the over-flying birds and the blue sea make this place look like a piece of paradise. It is not by chance that it has been already included both as an ornithologically important place (“The White Rocks”, 2 618.5 hectares) and as a habitat location (“Kaliakra”, 2 537.2 ha) in the proposals filed with the Ministry of Environment and Water regarding Natura 2000 protected areas in Bulgaria. In 2004 a scientific team of the World Wildlife Fund, Danube-Carpathian Programme, explored the steppe vegetation in this Black Sea district. A new unique and endemic association was determined: Alysso Caliacrae – Artemisietum Lerchianae, Tzonev, Roussakova et Dimitrov, 2006, which represents a specific subtype of habitat 6290 West Pontic Wormwood Steppes as per the Law on Biodiversity, which in the final version of Council Directive 92/43/EEC for 27 countries is “62С0 Ponto-Sarmatic Steppes” and is of protection priority.
It is due and obligatory (in compliance with the Law on Biodiversity and Council Directives 92/43 and 79/409) that this incredible coast remains the same wild and intact spot of nature on our Black Sea coast also for the coming Bulgarian generations. But, obviously, some others see the beauty of nature in a somewhat different way. How does Tsonko Tsonev, the notorious “Rock-and-Roll Mayor” of Kavarna, see it? He sees it as a barren municipal land which should be urgently sold out, as this is happening all the time in the course of his mandate. And that is exactly what he does! The land of 2000 decars was sold out in plots in 2003-2005 and on 790 decars out of these the company “Thracian Rocks AD got the construction right for the biggest golf field in Bulgaria - 1600 decars. The owners are the advertising boss Krassimir Gergov (who is being investigated for fraud by the Sofia Investigation Agency), Biochim Bank’s ex-Director Rumen Beremski, and other known and unknown “heros of the new time”. The designer is the “great” Gary Player who has constructed 260 golf fields throughout the world and, among others, is selling lions, elephants and rhinoceroses at his ranch in South Africa.
Thus, on the ACTIVE LANDSLIDE there are designed 90 villas, hotel complexes, artificial lakes and other extras. On 16 July the first sod of the complex was turned up. You would ask, where then is the Building Supervision Agency, where is the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, and which is the most important – where is the Ministry of Environment and Water in this case? The prepared report on the environmental impact assessment for the “golf complex” actually mentions nothing about protected species, and even less about habitats and plants communities. This seemed far too much even to the Varna Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water. The investor (“Thracian Rocks” AD) had been assigned to carry out mapping out of these species. The mapping was done by Lubomir Profirov and prof. Dimitar Dimitrov. It is carried out absolutely tendentiously and the conclusions (on 1.5 pages) are untruthful, and contradictory to the Law on Biodiversity. For example, it is mentioned there about “removing” of individuals” or “slated for construction land”. Once again there is nothing nowhere about habitats and plants communities. However, The High Ecological Expert Council at the Ministry of Environment and Water in its decision assigns to the investor not to admit destruction of any protected species. But how can this? What will happen to these species after the land is ploughed, sawn with grass mixtures and irrigated, treaded on and trampled down by heavy machines, or, in other words the habitat itself is destroyed. This is clear to any normally thinking man but not to the High Ecological Expert Council at the Ministry of Environment and Water.
In July 2005 four NGOs (BALKANI Wildlife Society, Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds – BSPB, Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds - Varna, and Public Environment Centre for Sustainable Development - Varna) filed a litigation with the Supreme Administrative Court for the incomplete and tendentious report on the environmental impact assessment. The investors, through the representative of “Thracian Rocks” AD, Rado Todorov (Member of the Board of Directors), established contacts with the NGOs and expressed will for change. Upon receipt of the investors’ promises to carry out “redesign” of the golf complex on 22 February 2006 an agreement was concluded between them and the NGOs whereby these latter withdrew their litigation. It was an essential mistake on the part of the NGOs as immediately after that RadoTodorov left “Thracian Rocks” AD (or got fired) and the so called “agreement” became useless. The investors state that “their ecologists” are L. Profirov and D. Dimitrov and they can have confidence solely these latter’s conclusions.
Experts of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) and Sofia University “Sveti Kliment Ohridski” performed an ecological assessment of the place and rejected the ascertainments of the above mentioned “ecologists of the golf complex”. Presently, the reaction by BAS is expected vis-à-vis the destruction of valuable nature components (types and communities). At a held up meeting of NGO representatives with the Environment Minister the latter was acquainted with this concrete case, as well as with the fact that his Ministry, respectively the State, has become a conscientious or unconscious accomplice in an offence against Bulgarian nature, because of a tendentious and untruthful environmental impact assessment report. The only way out of this situation is the cancelling by the Minister of the old procedure and taken decision as per the environmental impact assessment and the instituting of a new procedure. Such a step seems very risky to the Ministry of Environment and Water. The Minister replied that the construction permit for the golf field is already accorded and he can’t revoke it.
In the vicinity of the golf field, on a surface of 5 decars, a large hotel complex is already under construction – the “Window to Paradise”. On the other hand, оn top of the plateau near to the village of Bojurets the first sod was turned of a huge vacation village named “Kaliakria” designed for 15 000 holiday makers A similar vacation village is under construction also near Kaliakra Cape immediately next to the reserve, as the visitors are expected to descend to the sea by a lift down the rocks. Tsonko Tsonev has prepared two “alternatives” for the steppes in Kaliakra: they will be either wind generator parks or, in case of continuing resistance by the local people in the village of Bulgarevo against the electric plants, the steppes will be turned into golf fields - new and new ones… This mayor doesn’t want even to hear of Natura 2000 and environment protection. Habitat 62C0 (the West Pontic Wormwood Steppes) is menaced by complete liquidation on the territory of the country. The golf field near Bojurets would destroy more than 60% of an endemic and unique for Bulgaria natural habitat subtype (Alysso Caliacrae - Artemisietum Lerchianae). In November 2006 the bulldozers leveled away the West Pontic Steppes and construction of the villas, hotels, etc., was started. Unique vegetation formed in the course of 12 000 years was destroyed in a night to be replaced by grass mixtures. This barbarian act will lie heavy on the “conscience” of people like Tsonko Tsonev and Krassimir Gergov.
The vicious procedure of permit issuing as per environmental impact assessments in the region of Kavarna Municipality is turning into a direct and drastic infringement of the Law on Biodiversity – direct destruction of entire populations of tens of protected types included in Annex 3 to the Law on Biodiversity, the Annexes to the Bern Convention, and of course, these to the Birds Directive (79/409) and the Habitats Directive (92/43). The construction of the golf fields led to the destruction of the following protected plants populations included in Annex 3 of the Law on Biodiversity: Artemisia Lerchiana, Nepeta Parviflora, Ephedra Distchya, Goniolimon Besseranum, Limonium Latifolium, Mathiola Odoratissima. The ornithologically important place “White Rocks” will be erased off the face of the earth even before being declared. Basically, the responsibility for this destruction lies with Kavarna Municipality, namely its Mayor, as well as with the Ministry of Environment and Water and Varna Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water, which for sure have not fulfilled their duty and have infringed upon the public interest to the benefit of private persons and companies. Who will bear the responsibility for this crime? In any case, it won’t be Tsonko Tsonev, Krassimir Gergov, Gary Player and the other investors and their advertising faces. During the creation of the Natura 2000 network the European Commission will ascertain that the State has not fulfilled its duty and has admitted the destruction of more than 50% of the priority habitat as per Directive 92/43 – the Ponto-Sarmatic Steppes (West Pontic Steppes). The State will be fined and brought to the European Court, as such a procedure is already taking place versus Poland and the Czech Republic for analogical issues. The Bulgarian tax payers will pay so that rich foreigners can play golf in Bojurets and the owners of the complex having violated the Bulgarian and international legislation can collect the annual fee in the amount of 40 000 euros per participant for the to usage of this golf field.
Translated by: Prolet Ilieva