site.btaBulgaria's Higher Education in Forestry: 100 Years On

The University of Forestry announced the celebrations on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the higher forestry education in Bulgaria at the National Press Club of the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) on Tuesday. 

University Rector Hristo Mihaylov clarified that the Forestry Department was established at the Faculty of Agronomy of Sofia University on January 28, 1925. "One hundred years means that we are already setting standards - both in training and in the attitude to the Bulgarian forest," Mihaylov said.

Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Stoyanov, Dean of the Forestry Faculty, presented the programme of the anniversary events, which will continue throughout 2025, with special highlights in the February Open Days at the University, the Week of the Forest in early April, the solemn celebration of May 7 under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, an international scientific conference, etc.

Assoc. Prof. Evgeni Tsavkov, Head of the Department of Dendrology, gave a historical overview of higher forestry education in Bulgaria. He talked about the first curricula in 1925 and the subsequent inclusion of new specialties - from agronomy to forestry. Tsavkov added that forestry originated as a fight against erosion and spoke about the pioneer teachers in forestry higher education: Prof. Todor Dimitrov (the first lecturer in forestry sciences) and prof. Yanaki Mollov.