Bulgaria Extends its Natura 200 Zones

Bulgaria extended the boundaries of 26 existing sites and added 3 new sites, enlarging its already extensive Natura 2000 network by another 450 km2 according to the latest update of the Natura 2000 lists announced on EU website on November 26^th. .

These new areas enhance the coverage of the Natura 2000 network for several large carnivores such as Lynx and Wolf, tortoise and fish species, as well as for few forest, grassland and salt steppe habitats.

These latest additions mean that Bulgaria now ranks among the Member States with the highest level of completeness of the Natura 2000 network.

In the Eastern Rhodopes, there are 9 Natura 2000 sites with a total of 233 347 hectares (before the today's decision|. Which means that more than the half of the Bulgarian part of the Eastern Rhodopes territory is under EU protection.

The latest update of the Natura 2000 lists concerns 20 Member States: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Slovakia and the UK. The number of "Sites of Community Importance" has increased by 235 to 22 793, expanding the SCI network by 3.4 %, i.e. nearly 24 900 km².

The terrestrial part of the Natura 2000 network has primarily been increased in Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. See here details on the new additions to the Union lists of Natura 2000 sites.

See here details about Natura 200 zones in the Eastern Rhodopes

See here how Natura 2000 protects the wildlife in Europe (including in the Eastern Rhodopes) - photo story of NTG expert Stefan Avramov - in Bulgarian