Balkani Wildlife Society (BWS) issued a media statement on February 22 entitled “The first destroyed Natura 2000 site”, saying that a last-remaining refuge of 32 bird species had become a sand quarry.

The site was supposed to be part of the Natura 2000 European network of protected sites.

The Chelopechene state fish farm had been turned into a sand-extraction point without an environmental impact assessment having been done, and in violation of European directives, BWS said.

BWS alleged that the current fish farm concessionaire, Hydroecopim-1, was going to transform the zone into an “illegal sand pit”.

Chelopechene is one of the most important places for nesting birds in the area known as Sofia Field, where 32 endangered and 39 migratory bird species are found. BWS called for the alleged violations of Bulgarian and European legislation to be stopped immediately.

Another group that objects to the Cabinet’s February 16 decision on the Natura 2000 list of sites, a group of students at Sofia University started a tent city protest on February 26 in the university’s main courtyard. The protest was organised by the university eco-club, Bulgarian-language Netinfo.bg reported.

It is a tent city that we will use just for the visual impact at the beginning, and around it there will be posters,” Borislav Sandov, one of the organisers, said.

The student group objects to the minimal number of territories approved for inclusion in the Natura 2000 environmental network of protected zones.

Sandov said that the cutbacks in the Natura 2000 list would mean that Bulgaria would have to pay financial sanctions, and on top of this, limitations to conserving the environment would have a negative impact on people’s health and on the environment.

The campaign’s name is “Bulgaria – Stepmother of her own Children”, and the students hope that it will become national.