Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation (BBF) organises a conference titled Protecting the River Ecosystems and Flood Risk Management on November 7 and 8 in Sofia, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) said.

Topic of the conference was sustainable flood prevention and conservation practices, where contemporary European policies and best practices would be presented, as well as practical experience with river basins in Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Invited for the two day forum were experts from the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Ukraine, and representatives of ministries, agencies and associations.

According to BBF, flooding protection in Bulgaria was lagging behind compared to European politics and best practises.
After each flooding in Bulgaria, tax-payers' money was thrown at repairs of the same dikes and supporting walls, the same inefficient "cleaning" of rivers was done by private companies who ruthlessly cleaned forestation along the rivers, BBF said. The financial profits of this type of protection were far greater than its efficiency in flood protection.

The conference was organised with financial help from the Swiss agency for development and co-operation.