Bulgaria

Bulgaria is a largely mountainous country with a terrestrial area of over 110 000 km² and a marine area over 35 000 km². The country consists of the plains, with the Balkan and Rhodope Mountain ranges and the Black Sea coast, it is bordered by 5 other countries. The highest point is Musala at 2925m. Bulgaria has a population of 7000039 people and a population density of 63.9 people per km².

Protected areas

There are a total of   protected areas in Bulgaria,   Natura 2000 sites -   Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and   Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as   sites designated under national laws.

The average size of protected areas in Europe is lower compared to other regions of the world. This largely reflects the high degree of fragmentation of the land in Europe due to urbanisation, infrastructure and general intensification of land use. At a EU level 50% of protected areas have an area of less than 1 km². The 10 largest marine sites account for 68% of the marine area, while the 10 largest land sites account for 41% of the land area covered by protected areas

Natura 2000 sites in Bulgaria cover   species and   habitats from the nature directives. The number of species and habitats protected in each site varies depending on the location of the site, the biodiversity in the region, the designation being used, and the features the site is being created to protect. For   sites there is only 1 feature being protected with   sites having more than 20 features.

Protected species

Species protected in Bulgaria under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive and under the Birds Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 2 500 species on its list, the Birds Directive has a total of 500 species of wild birds protected.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of species are considered to be Good

 % of species are considered to be Poor

 % of species are considered to be Bad

 % of species are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Taxa

Protected species composition by Taxa

Protected habitats

Habitats protected in Bulgaria under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 233 habitats on its list.

  habitats protected under EU law in Bulgaria.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of habitats are considered to be Good

 % of habitats are considered to be Poor

 % of habitats are considered to be Bad

 % of habitats are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Group

Habitat composition by Group

Ecosystems

Policy

MAES in Bulgaria:

The European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2009–2014 through programme BG03 Biodiversity and Ecosystem services funded the national scale mapping and assessment of ecosystems and ecosystem services outside NATURA 2000 at EUNIS 3 level.

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Green infrastructure in Bulgaria:

The National Development Programme Bulgaria 2020 is the leading strategic and programming document detailing the objectives of the development policies of the country to 2020. While it does not refer to Green Infrastructure, it acknowledges that “the preserved nature in Bulgaria and the unique biodiversity are prerequisite not only for the provision of a supportive and healthy environment, but also for the development of perspective environmental industries – sustainable forms of tourism (ecological, balneal, SPA, etc.), organic farming, protection of lands with high natural value and protected areas, traditional farming, herbs-gathering, etc.”

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National Biodiversity strategy for Bulgaria:

To report on progress to the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, the European Commission extracted relevant information from the EU Member States’ 5^th national reports to the CBD. Of the 5 countries which had not finalized their national reports at the time of the synthesis (26^th of August 2015), Greece, Malta, Portugal and Lithuania provided information to be included in the synthesis.

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