The coalition of environmental organisations united under the name Save Pirin gave a news conference on March 22 to announce details about the latest illegal activities in Pirin National Park.

A media statement entitled “Ski zone Bansko representatives chased away Euronews TV crew” was issued on March 21.

Save Pirin consists of the Green Balkans Federation, the Centre for Environmental Information and Education, Balkani Wildlife Society, the Bulgarian Association for the Protection of Birds, TIME Foundation, Association Mountains and People, Ekoforum, ecological association Za Zemyata, Tetida and Eko Rila.

On March 19, Save Pirin representatives discovered a new illegal felling of more than 60 decares in Pirin National Park.

“This is the next scandalous evidence that under the silent supervision of institutions and administrative bodies, the national park is getting ‘privatised’ within the frame of Ulen’s concession contract,” the media statement said.

On March 20, the ski zone of Bansko was visited by a TV crew from Euronews, which arrived in Bulgaria to report on problems in setting up the Natura 2000 European environmental network and with construction in protected areas. Despite what the Bansko concessionaire promised in advance, the Euronews TV crew was not allowed to shoot and was chased away by the security guards of Bunderishka Polyana and Shiligarnika ski pistes.

Ulen executive director Ivan Obreikov refused to give the station an interview that had been promised in advance, the Save Pirin statement said.

For first time, heirs of writers of the Bulgarian national revival from Bansko presented evidence of illegal land misappropriations, buildings and financial incomes collected in the past four years. In their words, Bansko has become “a state in the state”.

Ivan Sirleshtov of the Bansko initiative committee set up to fight against organised crime spoke about irregularities in acquiring agricultural lands and land that had not been restituted. He said that a few days ago, two of the representatives of the local committee were beaten up, while others were talked into not coming to Sofia for the March 22 news conference. “Things are starting again. They will not give in,” he said when contacted by The Sofia Echo.

Save Pirin said that following many reports that they had sent to the Prosecutor-General’s office in the past seven years about breaches of the law in the Pirin mountain area, it was only days ago tha the Prosecutor-General finally ordered a check of Bansko’s ski zone. In the meantime, Pirin National Park had irreversible erosion and loss of plant and animal species, the statement said. The development of the ski zone also reflected dramatically on the lives of the local population, with prices rising to Sofia levels. And, the water and electricity supply was already problematic because of the huge amount of construction, according to environmentalists and local people.

Elderly Bansko inhabitants have been forbidden to take their animals out to pasture so to not stand in the way of tourists, the media statement said. According to locals, a recent increase in prostitution and easy access to drugs had made of the quaint historical town a “cesspool”.

Bansko’s legend and its romance have disappeared, according to Save Pirin; the bad experience from the ski zone should serve as an example to the 13 potential ski zones planned in many Bulgarian national and nature parks.

“We could also ask the question of why after it is clear for all of us that ski tourism is dying (at least due to lack of snow), in Bulgaria they still keep on making plans for new ski zones and in the most valuable natural territories, such as Pirin National Park? Isn’t it money laundering through huge hotel complex, golf courts and ski zones investments?” Tsveta Hristova of Save Pirin said.

She said that foreigners who were talked into buying land could not get a return on their investments because tourists rarely returned to Bansko because of the over-construction and the resort’s too big sleeping capacity of 30 000 to 40 000 beds. The trend was for tourist numbers to drop with the years, she told The Sofia Echo.

On March 25, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that the first orders designating Natura 2000 conservation sites were under preparation, Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov said. He was participating in a training seminar on the absorption of EU funds organised by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and the Tolerance Association of Municipalities.

Chakurov said orders had been prepared for between three and five protected sites. The orders will comply with the procedures provided for by the Biodiversity Act.

All owners and users will be informed of what is in the draft orders, which will be available at the regional inspectorates of environment and waters and will be published in at least two national dailies and one regional daily. Furthermore, Chakurov said projects were ready to use funds allocated for the first stage of the Environment Operational Programme. Work may begin when uniform procedures are approved for the country, he said.

On March 23, global environmental conservation organisation WWF said the five environmental organisations that had proposed the inclusion of certain areas in the Natura 2000 had challenged in part the Government’s March 2 2007 decision endorsing the list of areas to be included in Natura 2000. The environmentalists said that the list of protected areas was endorsed too late and that it was incomplete. The postponement until October 2007 of the decision to include wild bird habitats in the European network of protected sites in accordance with the EU Habitats Directive and Birds Directive contradicts the Biodiversity Act, they said.