The first round table on the MyCoast project, a joint project between Bulgaria and The Netherlands, took place in Strandja Natural Park (SNP) village of Brushlyan on February 15 2008.
MyCoast is developed by Vision and Management Plan for Sustainable Development of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (VMP), which organised the round table, dedicated to starting up an integrated eco-investment program in Bourgas coastal area.
About 35 persons attended the conference, including Malko Turnovo deputy major, local residents, representatives of Strandja Forestry Administration, Ministry of Agriculture officials, SNP Directorate representatives, as well as agriculture organisations from the SNP region and Bourgas province.
Members of WWF Bulgaria, Earth Forever organisation and Biodiversity Foundation represented the nongovernmental sector. Two Netherlands experts, working on MyCoast project were also invited to the discussion: Mike Mannaart, a nature resources expert, and Menno Houtstra, rural and eco-tourism expert.
During the round table, the participants talked about what contribution could the local communities give to MC project and to the VMP. Main topics of the talks also included discussions on the first activities within the project, organised under the motto “Strandja: Serenity in Business”.
As SNP territory also belonged to Bulgarian Natura 2000 protected are network, no heavy industry is allowed in the zone. Therefore the project experts are looking for alternative environmentally friendly alternatives to develop business in the area.
The two main streams for future establishments would be oriented towards ecological agriculture and village tourism. After the round table’s end MyCoast expert Apostol Dyankov told The Sofia Echo that one of the project’s activities was to carry out a marketing research among the bigger Black Sea tourist complexes, hotels and restaurants on how they and their customers would accept to consume bio products, grown in Strandja region. Dyankov said the project was initially targeting the Black Sea cost region for these projects distribution.
The discussions also included effective ways to use the public and private money to achieve sustainable development of the Black Sea and Strandja regions.
All round table participants supported the idea for creation of better conditions in SNP for organic agriculture and production of bio foods. The team decided Strandja, together with Varna, Dobritch and Bourgas to be the first regions within the project.
The participants explored ideas for Strandja and the coastal zone in four working groups: human resources, improve settling and living opportunities; multi-functional forestry and ecological agriculture; eco-tourism; stimulating demand for local eco-products.
The next planned round table discussions in 2008 should result in a task force that would act as a driver for potential projects and as a general accepted and supported reference for the application of public and private means in SNP. The goal of the Task Force would be to create "sustainable supply chains from Strandja to the coastal are”. At the end of 2008, at least one pilot project for each of the working groups should be identified and described including financial aspects and technical assistance needs. MyCoast team can support this with expertise and experience in donor identification.
MyCoast conference for signing the Vision for integrated and sustainable development of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is planned for the end of March 2008. More information on the project is available at www.mycoast.eu.
