site.btaOak Saplings Planted Near Sofia as Part of Initiative to Create "Green Belt" around Capital

Volunteers, with the assistance of Sofia Municipality, opened the spring reforestation season of Sofia's New Forest near the village of Negovan, which is located within Sofia's Novi Iskar district. 

"We are continuing an initiative that began seven years ago, with which we seek to establish a permanent green belt around Sofia, which is associated with improving the purity of the air, Nadezhda Bobcheva, Sofia Deputy Mayor in charge of the green system, ecology and land use, told BTA Saturday. 

"This year we are planting oaks," she noted, adding that the aim of the current campaign is to more seriously monitor the growth of saplings.  This initiative is run entirely by volunteers, with the municipality doing the logistics, Bobcheva said. 

For this year's entire season, 20,000 saplings are scheduled to be planted on 3.2 ha. Some 56,000 saplings have been planted since the start of the initiative near Negovan. Oak is a slow-growing species and requires a lot of consistent care, said Todor Todorov, hear of the municipal enterprise Management of Municipal Forests and Lands.  He said the number of volunteers taking part in such initiatives is increasing. 

The need to create a green belt to be the "lungs" of Sofia was highlighted so that future generations can live in a cleaner city.

After receiving guidance from the experts on how to do the planting, volunteers and representatives of the municipality and district administrations actively participated in planting the saplings. There were also children among the attendees. 

Sofia Municipality's initiative Sofia's New Forest started in 2017 and aims to transform municipal unsuitable agricultural land into forested areas, creating a green belt around the city.

So far, 160,000 saplings have been planted around the capital, Sofia Municipality announced earlier.