site.btaEnvironment Minister Declares Three New Protected Areas

Environment and Water Minister Julian Popov, issued orders declaring three new protected areas, in Mramor Village, Vrabnitsa, Sofia Municipality, in Valcha Polyana Village, Elhovo Municipality, Yambol Region, and in Samovodene Village, Veliko Tarnovo Municipality, and Parvomaitsi Village, Gorna Oryahovitsa Municipality, Veliko Tarnovo Region. The orders introduce a ban on activities that can lead to the destruction of species subject to protection, and their habitats.

The Mramor Dam Protected Area in Mramor Village (40.29 hectares) was declared at the suggestion of ornithologists with the aim of protecting a lake ecosystem, representing a habitat for about 200 valuable and protected species of birds: common shelduck (Tadorna tadorna), garganey (Spatula querquedula), northern shoveler (Spatula clypeata), gadwall (Mareca strepera), Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), northern pintail (Anas acuta), Eurasian teal (Anas crecca), red-crested pochard (Netta rufina), common pochard (Aythya ferina), ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca), hooded heron (Aythya fuligula), great egret (Egretta alba), night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), tufted duck (Egreta garzetta), squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides), purple heron (Ardea purpurea), Eurasian bittern (Botaurus stellaris),  little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus), pygmy cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus), glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), red-footed falcon (Falco vespertinus) and others.

Specific prohibitions on activities that may lead to the destruction of the lake ecosystem and bird species - subject to protection, include the use of any watercraft (including surfboards, kites, sports boats and pedal boats) in the water area; industrial fishing; use of pyrotechnics.

The protected area near Valcha Polyana (with an area of 0.95 hectares) was declared on the proposal of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with the aim of protecting an endangered and protected plant species, Centaurea wagenitziana, and its habitat.

The specific prohibitions for the protected area include tearing, cutting, uprooting, collecting and destroying specimens of the species except for scientific purposes; storage of timber; backfilling with soil, excavation, inert and any other materials.

The protected area near Veliko Tarnovo, Manastirska Stalba,  (with an area of 36.45 hectares) has been declared to protect rare and vulnerable rock-nesting bird species, including black stork (Ciconia nigra), common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), common raven (Corvus corax), alpine swift (Apus melba), common swift (Apus apus), Eurasian crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris), red-rumped swallow (Hirundo daurica), and until recently also a nesting site of the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a globally endangered and endangered species in Bulgaria. 

The protected area will also contribute to the protection of the Prashna Cave, which has protected species of bats included in the Biological Diversity Act, as well as a plant species with a high environmental value - the naked nettle (Celtis glabrata), included in the Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. 

The three orders are to be promulgated in the State Gazette.