Between 30 and 40 environmentalists gathered for a protest near the Environment and Water Affairs Ministry building in Sofia against the exclusion of 353 000 sq m of land from the environmental network Natura 2000.

Environmentalists gathered on the occasion of the September 13 meeting of the national bio-diversity council which would examine the documentation for the 29 zones that were postponed in November 2006, Focus news agency reported.

Elena Tilova from Zeleni Balkani (Green Balkans) eco organisation said that environmentalists from Stara Zagora had arrived in Sofia specially for the protest.

Protesters said that excluding the territories from Natura 2000 would threaten the population of the brown bear, wolf, lynx and several other species.

According to the European directive for Natura 2000, 70 per cent of the brown bear population should be included in Natura 2000 but currently only 54 per cent is, Tilova said.

The territories that were excluded from Natura 2000 cover part of the buffer zones of the national park Balkan and Rila, Sredni Rodopi and Sredna Gora.

Environmentalists said that many citizens that were not directly involved in non-governmental organisations joined the protest.