site.btaFacebook Group Intends to Plant over 1 Mln Trees in Bulgaria

Facebook Group Intends to Plant over 1 Mln Trees in Bulgaria

Sofia, May 18 (BTA) - A Facebook group which calls itself "When
we become 100,000 we will plant a forest" has the ambitious
long-term task to plant over 1 million new trees in Bulgaria in
the next couple of years, Nikola Rahnev, who created the group,
said in an interview for BTA.

In his opinion, this is a clean initiative from the people for
the people. The volunteers who have participated in the
campaigns organized by the group have already planted 90,000
different coniferous and deciduous new trees since 2013.

The idea to launch this initiative was born at the end of 2011,
Rahnev says. The group has the ambition to expand its activities
among the youngest children at kindergartens and schools.

In addition to the volunteer organisations, this year the
Ministry of Agriculture and Food is planting over 1,400 ha of
saplings on the territories of the forest fund under its care.

In the last 13 years the Bulgarian state has lost a net 30,000
ha of forest. In the 1990s the forests increased because there
were a lot of abandoned fields and orchards.

In 2000 - 2006 the forests shrank by 20,000 ha. From 2006 to
2012 they shrank by another 16,000 ha. The total balance of
forest loss stands around 29,000 ha. Trees at least 5 m tall are
considered forest. In the last 13 years forest fires damaged
217,000 ha. At least half of the trees there were burnt. Another
130,000 ha of forests suffered from drying and pests. According
to the Ministry, all the trees there should be replaced.

Sofia City Hall has about 5,500 ha of forest territories in the
mountains of Vitosha, the Balkan Range, Plana, Lyulin and Lozen,
City Hall told BTA.

In the last three years City Hall has afforested 30 ha of fallow
and polluted agricultural land in the vicinity of Yana village
and the town of Bouhovo under a project subsidized by the State
Fund Agriculture with 130,000 leva. These actions and care for
the plants will continue in 2015 and 2016.