National Ombudsman Ginyo Ganev has accused the Environment and Water Affairs Ministry and the Agriculture and Forests Ministry of giving insufficient information and lacking transparency when addressing Natura 2000 issues, Bulgarian-language daily Pari reported on February 12.

Ganev said that the ministries had ignored local authorities when deciding on zones to be included in the environmental network. He called for amendments to the Biodiversity Act to allow affected parties to question the ministerial order declaring certain areas as protected.

At a national meeting on February 5 to discuss Natura 2000, Environment Minister Djevdet Chakurov said prices of land in areas included in the network would grow.

He said that the more rational option for owners was to sell their land included in the eco-network. Throughout the country there were people trying to persuade farmers to sell their land so that they could get their hands on it for speculation.

On January 30, representatives of tour operators sent a letter to the Environment Ministry expressing their support for the network, saying that it created development opportunities in regions where territory had been included in the network.

They said there was growing interest among foreigners and Bulgarians in green tourism. They were interested in trekking, bicycle tours, horse riding, rafting, kayak and observing wildlife in specific areas.