Bulgaria is among the highest ranking countries in terms of biological diversity in Europe. Despite being a small country, it is within the boundaries of 5 bio-geographical regions (Alpine, continental, Black Sea region and partially Mediterranean and Steppe), and is home to 90 types of natural habitats and habitats of over 120 species of plants and animals according to the European Bird Directive.

During the past two years of increasing risks for the nature in Bulgaria, the civil society has turned out to be the only instrument for monitoring and control of illegal building in the protected areas and NATURA 2000 sites, the corrupted schemes among political figures and investment interests as well as dysfunctional judiciary system. Given these reasons, the present project has aimed to support the civil society structures for effective preservation of Bulgarian nature.

Despite Bulgaria’s joining the European Union, the civil society in Bulgaria still needs encouragement, stabilization and consolidation. This was achieved by the following activities:

1.             Strengthening and increasing the capacity of non-government organizations and civil groups within the coalition “For The Nature” as an effective guarantee for the preservation of the protected areas and NATURA 2000 network in Bulgaria. By means of the project the implementation of strategic planning and team building of the Coalition was achieved, training programmes for experts and volunteers, development of concept and mechanisms for sponsorship, as well as organising of meetings, presentations and working groups in various cities.

2.             Attraction, increasing and sustaining of social support for long-term protection and sustainable management of NATURA 2000 sites in Bulgaria.

A key element for achievement of this goal was the huge number of activities connected with the promotion among the vast majority of the society of the problems, connected with the destruction of Bulgarian nature, as well as the possible solutions, through which each of us could contribute to the sustainable management of the resources.  To achieve this, the regular update of the site www.forthenature,org was necessary, a series of promotional materials were prepared and distributed, messages and visions for engaging the public interest of the different target groups were produced, several big-scale and diverse public actions were organized.

The results of all activities of the “For the Nature” Coalition and the civic activity in the field of environmental preservation were announced in monthly informational bulletins. Some of the activities were mainly targeted at local communities in five priority regions with preserved, but threatened environment: sociological research, SWOT and economic analysis for the opportunities for sustainable development in the concrete region, meeting-discussions and demonstration journeys. These 5 priority “hot spots” are Rila, Pirin, Rodopi mountains and North and South Black sea coast.

3.              Development of alternative ecological assessments for five priority “hot spots” in collaboration with the academic community.

The activity enabled affirmation of the scientific grounds for our actions and increasing the public trust, as well as achievement of more efficient collaboration between the Coalition and the responsible Bulgarian and European institutions. Within the activity statements on reports for Article 6 Assessment (Habitat Directive) and Environmental Impact Assessment of various investments as well as statements on the active legal frame in Bulgaria were prepared. Terrain research was held in the five “hot spots”, for which the species of highest priority for the European community were identified and researched.

4.             Achieving effective collaboration between the Coalition and the responsible Bulgarian and European institutions.

The coalition has played a pro-active part of a watchdog for the institutions by regularly gathering information, filing signals and bringing actions on the cases of law violations in the environmental legislation. Dozens of letters and complaints to the European institutions have been sent.

• Strategic planning of the Coalition, communication and fundraising strategies developed, 11 new members/ friends, 14 meetings of the Coalition and the working groups, 300 new subscribers.
• 25 trainings in 18 Bulgarian towns were held, improving the capacity of 500 experts, volunteers and new members of the Coalition.
• 14 information bulletins, sent to almost 10 000 people;
• 7 meetings held with representatives of other sectors of public life, 2 joint actions held, 3 future initiatives planned;
• 13 public actions and events held; total number of the participants - over 8000 people, five press-conferences held. Media coverage of the events and the press-conferences, including national televisions, newspapers, radio stations, Internet portals, Internet editions, social networks, blogs – over 600 times;
• Information materials produced and distributed (posters, leaflets, stickers, calendars, T-shirts, bags and folders) and recognition of the Coalition increased.
• Presenting the Coalition in 12 events, organized by partners and members of the Coalition, institutions, media.
• 3200 photos of the Black sea shore made (taken from above from its most Northern point up to Tsarevo, 500 photos from the Strandzha Nature Park Black Sea area were provided as well. 2 presentations of exhibitions with the photos were organized in Sofia and in one of the two biggest towns at the Black sea coast - Varna.
• 2 focus groups and a questionnaire research held with 1200 participants and respondents from 25 populated areas in the five project focus regions;
• SWOT-analyses developed for the five target regions together with plans for the development of local sustainable tourism in the target regions, a good practice report on sustainable tourism made (with 40 cases from Bulgaria and abroad). The analyses were presented at 7 meetings-discussions with local communities. 2 demonstration trips and 1 exploration trip were held. The creation of a local organization was supported with 90 people from the local communities involved;
• The outlook of the site www.forthenature.org was improved, with regular daily updates (3-5 per day), new columns, improved administration, update of the English version;
• Terrain research was held and 14 legal opinions on reports about compatibility assessments were worked out, along with 7 alternative environmental impact assessments on species and habitats in the 5 key environment protection regions, i.e. Pirin, Rila, The Rhodopes, North and South Black Sea Coastal Area, with regard to envisaged investment intents.
• Two meetings in Brussels were held to present concrete cases in front of the Environment Commission. Participation of Bulgarian representatives in an international training in Oxford under the Directive for the Habitats.
• Ten spot checks were made, a total of 198 documents – petitions under the Law for access to public information were prepared and addressed, signals, suggestions and complaints under Bulgarian legislation, letters on current correspondence, legal opinions, suggestions and parliamentary issues;
• Seven letters with additional information on existing complaints in the European Commission, as well as 2 new complaints and one new signal were prepared and filed, 4 new penal procedures were initiated.

Contact Information

Jordanka Dineva, Coordinator “Coalitions”

Bulgarian Foundation Biodiversity

Banishora District, bl. 54, entr. D, app. 86, Sofia 1233, Bulgaria

Tel./fax:  ++ 359 2 931 61 83

Cell Phone: ++ 359 896 78 89 02