A special document should combine the principles and values in the protection and development of the Bulgarian forests, while its implementation should be overseen by an inter-departmental body, President Georgi Purvanov told a forum on the problems of Bulgarian forestry sector in the Sofia’s University of Forestry on March 18 2008.

Hosted by Purvanov, it is part of a presidential initiative for the preservation of Bulgarian forests.

However, the only tangible suggestion made by Purvanov during the conference was to plant up to 500 000 trees in co-operation with the Bulgarian Union of Hunters and Fishers and environmental organisation.

Additionally, the Cabinet should do more to improve the motivation of staff employed by the forestry administration, an area in which he claimed the efforts were insufficient. At the end of 2007, the forestry employees protested, demanding higher salaries.