The West Rhodopes could soon be protected territory as a classified national park, according to a project that has been launched recently by two NGOs – Green Balkans and the Bulgarian Union for Rhodopes Protection. Both have been working for eight years on declaring the Rhodopes a national park, and now the project has finally begun.
Simeon Marinov, director of the Environmental Protection Agency with the Green Balkans group, explained why the Rhodopes should become a protected national park. “The difference between the biggest land mass on the Balkan Peninsula and the rest of the protected territories lies in the abundance of its biological species and the fact that it’s occupied by 70 per cent natural forests.” The place is a natural habitat for 15 endemic plants bearing the mountains’ name.
The West Rhodopes is an extremely expansive region, occupying an area twice as big as all the protected regions in the country combined. The reservation will cover about 8,000 square kilometers in all. The whole area composes seven per cent of the country’s territory. Twenty-five municipalities are situated throughout the territory of the national park and all of them are challenged to work out the project on an international level. The borders of the park are planned to encompass the Mesta river valley (west), the municipalities Smolian, Banite and Asenovgrad (to the east), Velingrad and Rakitovo’s municipalities (north), and stretch to the country’s southern border.
There are 19 reserves in the Rhodopes territory with 25 protected areas and 60 natural places of interest. There were few places in Europe at the end of the 20th century where 70 per cent of the forests were untouched and inhabited by bears and wolves, but it is one of them.
“The state has not found a way to estimate this region’s significance until now,” explained Marinov. The project was started up eight years ago and several attempts have been made to reach a definite estimation of the project. The Agroles Project and the Bulgarian Union for Rhodopes’ Protection have in the past expressed willingness to start up the project on several occasions, but, for various reasons, have never been able to get past the initial stages. “Our sole purpose is the protection of nature,” added Marinov.
The Ministry of Environment and Waters was hesitant to announce such a large area for a national park. The Ministry decided to initiate the matter of the Rhodopes becoming a national park and assigned the technical application of the procedure to the two NGOs. At the Rozhen 2000 gathering last August in the Rozhen area of the mountains, about 3,000 people signed a petition to turn the Rhodopes into a national park. The national festival was deemed the best and most natural unofficial launch of the project. Over 30 institutions, such as the Environmental Inspection Agency, state forestry organizations, and various municipalities, also supported the beginning of the project.
At the Forum of State Leaders in Rio De Janeiro (1992), it was declared that environmental protection was not possible without development of the local population and stabilized development of particular regions and maintaining their biological diversity. Marinov said that the protection of resources in itself is not possible in the event that local populations were disinterested, or if they remained unaware of its long-term importance both for them and the population in general.
“We’re aiming at two interrelated aspects in the project: protection of the area on the one hand, and acquiring investments for stable development of the region and the infrastructure on the other,” said Mihail Mihailov, chairman of Nature Protection (Plovdiv). A basic principle of the sponsors in connection with the environment is that there should be some legal protection of the territory, namely that the country has accepted this particular spot for something different from the rest of Bulgaria. The end of the project is marked for December this year and further development of concrete projects is expected.
According to Mihailov, the reasons for all the excitement are various and support could soon be considered widespread. Supporting year-round tourism, improving technical and material facilities, attracting investors, and development of local labour resources in the region are parts of the Natural Rhodopes Project. The purpose is the development of regional identification with the express goal of introducing local trade products on the European market and, in the meantime, protecting cultural traditions and agro-schemes.
“This territory will create employment opportunities for the local people who are involved primarily with milk production and dairies,” said Mihailov.
After the return of lands and forests due to restitution reforms, people hoped there might be a way to put the land to use in a more productive capacity. However, residing in the heart of the mountains is not as accessible to trade as it is for those residing along the foot of the range. The only administrative measures that could be taken are insufficient because people must be clearly told of how they will be affected later on after accepting the Rhodopes into the national parks. The southern part of the range borders Greek territory and discussions with Greek local eco-organizations have already begun.
Another part of the program is the protection of the cultural monuments in the territory. All the citizens of the 25 municipalities (including Smolian, Chepelare, Bratsigovo and Peshtera) will be concerned with keeping the borders between the internal parts of the Rhodopes. President Petar Stoyanov has also signed the declaration for supporting the Rhodopes and making them a national park.
Simeon Marinov, director of the Environmental Protection Agency with the Green Balkans group, explained why the Rhodopes should become a protected national park. “The difference between the biggest land mass on the Balkan Peninsula and the rest of the protected territories lies in the abundance of its biological species and the fact that it’s occupied by 70 per cent natural forests.” The place is a natural habitat for 15 endemic plants bearing the mountains’ name.
The West Rhodopes is an extremely expansive region, occupying an area twice as big as all the protected regions in the country combined. The reservation will cover about 8,000 square kilometers in all. The whole area composes seven per cent of the country’s territory. Twenty-five municipalities are situated throughout the territory of the national park and all of them are challenged to work out the project on an international level. The borders of the park are planned to encompass the Mesta river valley (west), the municipalities Smolian, Banite and Asenovgrad (to the east), Velingrad and Rakitovo’s municipalities (north), and stretch to the country’s southern border.
There are 19 reserves in the Rhodopes territory with 25 protected areas and 60 natural places of interest. There were few places in Europe at the end of the 20th century where 70 per cent of the forests were untouched and inhabited by bears and wolves, but it is one of them.
“The state has not found a way to estimate this region’s significance until now,” explained Marinov. The project was started up eight years ago and several attempts have been made to reach a definite estimation of the project. The Agroles Project and the Bulgarian Union for Rhodopes’ Protection have in the past expressed willingness to start up the project on several occasions, but, for various reasons, have never been able to get past the initial stages. “Our sole purpose is the protection of nature,” added Marinov.
The Ministry of Environment and Waters was hesitant to announce such a large area for a national park. The Ministry decided to initiate the matter of the Rhodopes becoming a national park and assigned the technical application of the procedure to the two NGOs. At the Rozhen 2000 gathering last August in the Rozhen area of the mountains, about 3,000 people signed a petition to turn the Rhodopes into a national park. The national festival was deemed the best and most natural unofficial launch of the project. Over 30 institutions, such as the Environmental Inspection Agency, state forestry organizations, and various municipalities, also supported the beginning of the project.
At the Forum of State Leaders in Rio De Janeiro (1992), it was declared that environmental protection was not possible without development of the local population and stabilized development of particular regions and maintaining their biological diversity. Marinov said that the protection of resources in itself is not possible in the event that local populations were disinterested, or if they remained unaware of its long-term importance both for them and the population in general.
“We’re aiming at two interrelated aspects in the project: protection of the area on the one hand, and acquiring investments for stable development of the region and the infrastructure on the other,” said Mihail Mihailov, chairman of Nature Protection (Plovdiv). A basic principle of the sponsors in connection with the environment is that there should be some legal protection of the territory, namely that the country has accepted this particular spot for something different from the rest of Bulgaria. The end of the project is marked for December this year and further development of concrete projects is expected.
According to Mihailov, the reasons for all the excitement are various and support could soon be considered widespread. Supporting year-round tourism, improving technical and material facilities, attracting investors, and development of local labour resources in the region are parts of the Natural Rhodopes Project. The purpose is the development of regional identification with the express goal of introducing local trade products on the European market and, in the meantime, protecting cultural traditions and agro-schemes.
“This territory will create employment opportunities for the local people who are involved primarily with milk production and dairies,” said Mihailov.
After the return of lands and forests due to restitution reforms, people hoped there might be a way to put the land to use in a more productive capacity. However, residing in the heart of the mountains is not as accessible to trade as it is for those residing along the foot of the range. The only administrative measures that could be taken are insufficient because people must be clearly told of how they will be affected later on after accepting the Rhodopes into the national parks. The southern part of the range borders Greek territory and discussions with Greek local eco-organizations have already begun.
Another part of the program is the protection of the cultural monuments in the territory. All the citizens of the 25 municipalities (including Smolian, Chepelare, Bratsigovo and Peshtera) will be concerned with keeping the borders between the internal parts of the Rhodopes. President Petar Stoyanov has also signed the declaration for supporting the Rhodopes and making them a national park.
