site.btaWildfires Ruin Endangered Bird Species Habitats in Sakar, Western Strandzha Mountains

Wildfires in recent weeks have threatened not only people and settlements, but also valuable natural habitats, home to a huge variety of species, some of them globally threatened.

The fires have led to an apocalyptic scene in Sakar and Western Strandzha, with burnt villages and domestic animals, and the biodiversity has been severely damaged, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds warns on its webpage. Many trees have been affected, including poplars with Imperial Eagle nests, as well as trees planted 20 years ago by the Society as part of efforts to improve nesting habitats for the species.

In some areas, both old and new eagle nests have been burned, as well as three of the artificial nests placed to attract Imperial Eagle pairs. Fortunately, no young birds were lost, as the eaglets successfully fledged days before the fire. Some of the species’ territories have been entirely affected by the fires. Grassland habitats, purchased by the Society to be preserved and maintained in a nature-friendly manner, have also been damaged by the disaster.

For another rare species that the Society has been working to protect for many years—the Lesser Spotted Eagle—the fire issue is also severe. The fire has affected valuable habitats, though the nests regularly monitored by the Society under the LIFE project “LIFE for Eagle’s Habitats” have been preserved. However, other nests of the species in the area have suffered immeasurable damage.

Territories of the Short-toed Eagle, the Booted Eagle, the Northern Goshawk, and the Common Buzzard have also been destroyed, with their nests burning in the fire, likely with young birds in some of them.

Forest fires continue to rage in various parts of the country, including Sakar and Western Strandzha. The full extent of the consequences and effects of the fires on nature and biodiversity in Bulgaria will become clearer over time.

The Society is working together with foresters from the Southeastern State Enterprise and the state forestry units in the area to restore coniferous plantations affected by fires within the framework of the “From Iron Curtain to Green Belt: Restoring Ecological Networks in Southeast Bulgaria” project. At the end of 2023, over 70 hectares were reforested with oak trees, replacing pine forests that burned in the Sakar fire in 2021. However, this year’s fires have burned the pine plantations saved at that time and have covered significantly larger areas. The atypical pine plantations in the area are among the most fire-prone, which is why the goal of the reforestations within the project is to restore natural oak forests, which are more fire-resistant and recover quickly. A total of 3,180 decares of pine cultures in Western Strandzha and Sakar will be converted into oak forests as part of the project, which in the future will also reduce the risk of fires in the area.