3 million Euros for 4 species of birds
ita eng"The Republic […] guarantees the protection and reproduction of the environment, the conservation of living nature in all its varieties and the reasonable use of natural resources". This is stated in Article 15 of the Constitution of Bulgaria, the first country in the European Union in terms of the share of its territory covered by protected areas
Bulgaria is also one of the largest beneficiaries of EU cohesion funds, whose objectives include improving and protecting the environment. Over the past decade, the Bulgarian state-run “Environment ” programme has invested around 1.7 billion Euros, mostly from European funds: many resources have gone into modernising waste and water management systems and civil protection and natural disaster prevention efforts, but some projects have also focused on protecting wildlife.
Namely, four species of birds have received the largest contributions, all aimed at improving their “conservation status”, or their chances of survival over time.
Among these is the monk vulture, a species at risk of extinction in which the equivalent of almost 1 million Euros in cohesion funds has been invested. The bittern, a mimetic bird also known as the starry heron, is decidedly more elusive, and has been recorded in 37 protected areas in Bulgaria. The ferruginous duck is considered "near threatened". It is widespread in several regions of the world, but in Bulgaria it is mainly present in the south-eastern regions. The project in its favour, managed by a non-governmental organisation, mobilised resources amounting to 800,000 Euros. Instead, it was the municipality of Šabla that implemented a project to improve the living conditions of the red-breasted goose, a species native to Siberia classified as "vulnerable".
This material is published in the framework of the project "Cohesion4Climate" co-funded by the European Union. The EU is in no way responsible for the information or views expressed within the framework of the project; the sole responsibility for the content lies with OBCT.
