site.btaCabinet Includes Three Coastal Areas in Protected Zones

Sofia, July 28 (BTA) - The Council of Ministers decided here on
Wednesday to include the Black Sea coast areas of Coral, Kara
Dere and Pasha Dere in existing protected zones. Details of the
decision was announced at a news conference by caretaker
Environment and Water Minister Asen Lichev and caretaker Economy
 Minister Kiril Petkov.

Coral is included in the Ropotamo Protected Zone, Kara Dere in
the Shkorpilovci Beach Protected Zone and Pasha Dere in the
Galata Protected Zone.

The Environment Minister said that the Black Sea coast is not a
commodity that can be sold: it is a heritage that must be
protected and preserved for the future generations.

He noted that big companies from the film industry, like Disney
and Netflix, are interested in Bulgaria and will be allowed to
film on the "breathtaking nature sites on the Black Sea coast,
which today we prevented from being developed".

Answering a question, Lichev said that he hopes "nobody would
dare lay a hand on these protected zones" but there are no
guarantees that will not happen, because the Biodiversity Act
allows dropping the protection for designated zones.

Economy Minister Petkov said that these are some of the few
remaining pristine beaches on the Bulgarian coast, where true
nature can be observed.

He said the inclusion of the new sites in the protected areas is
 "a huge victory for the Bulgarian economy", because this - not
building hotels right on the sand dunes - is the way to develop
tourism with high added value.

Tourism that is focused on nature is much more profitable than
the mass tourism seen so far, Petkov said. "When we speak of
ecology and economy, we're talking about two sides of the same
coin," he said, explaining that a tourist interested in nature
spends ten to 17 times more money compared to what a barhopping
tourist would. NV/MY