Environment Minister Dzhevdet Chakurov would meet environmental organisations grouped under the umbrella “Let’s Save Irakli” to discuss the future of the coastal scenic spot, Chakurov’s office announced.
On July 13, Chakurov announced that he intended ordering a temporary ban on construction at Irakli, an area close to the Black Sea city of Bourgas, that boasts a wide diversity of plant and animal species.
Plans are for Irakli to be included in the Natura 2000 network, the European Union project to protect species and habitats in certain declared areas.
Chakurov said that a wide variety of bodies, including the Regional Development Ministry, the State Agency on Tourism and the National Association of Bulgarian Municipalities, would be consulted with a view to achieving an outcome for Irakli that took account of environmental concerns while being in accordance with the law.
“Our purpose is to consider all aspects of the case within the context of what is happening all along the Black Sea coast,” Chakurov said.
The case of Irakli was a complex one, he said.
Chakurov said that he wanted the boundaries of the area to be included in the Natura 2000 network to be properly defined.
At issue are plans to build a holiday village in the area. Speaking to journalists, Chakurov said that an investigation by his ministry into these plans would be completed by July 14.
At the end of June, the Nessebar municipal council turned down a proposal by the town’s mayor, Nikolai Trifonov, to impose a ban on construction at Irakli.
The “Let’s Save Irakli” group, made up of 10 environmental organisations, had petitioned the council against the development plans.
In contrast, local landowners petitioned the council to allow a change in land use zoning and to allow construction to go ahead.
On July 13, representatives of the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation, the Green Balkans Federation, the Bulgarian Bird Protection Society, the Balkans Wildlife Association and the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) Danube-Carpathian Programme for Bulgaria held a news conference, calling for the safety of more than 250 protected areas to be ensured by incorporating the 1978-1988 ordinances on their designation in a special law.
Doing this would resolve the problem of the destruction of these areas through unlawful privatisation and construction, the organisations said.
They said that there was a trend of Bulgaria’s nature conservation legislation being violated.
Unless the relevant institutions took the steps that they had requested, the organisations would launch a national and international campaign for the European Commission to undertake monitoring on the commitments assumed under the environment chapter of European Union accession negotiations. This would mean invoking the relevant safeguard clause.
The organisations gave as an example the fate of the Kamchia Sands Protected Area.
The area combines sand dunes with wetlands along the Kamchia river banks (the river empties into the Black Sea), which are unique in Europe and are found only in Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia.
According to the organisations, a decision by the previous government had made it possible to sell land located within the boundaries of the protected area (about 40 ha) to Reece International. The company petitioned the Supreme Administration Court challenging the ordinance designating the place as a protected area because this had prevented it from carrying out a construction project there. The court ruled in favour of Reece International.
The organisations said that the wording of the courts’ explanation for its ruling jeopardised the status of more than 250 protected areas in Bulgaria.
On July 12, the Ministry of Environment and Waters said that it had appealed against the court’s ruling, that invalidated a February 14 1980 ordinance by which the chairman of the then Cabinet’s Committee for Environmental Conservation designated Kamchia Sands as a protected area.
