Rocks in the area of the Vrachanska Mountain, Bulgaria

IMAGE: Yoan Krumov

It doesn't matter whether you are talking about business, investment or travel; Sustainable Land Management (SLM) should always be at the core of climate change adaptation. With the highest number of protected areas in the EU, nowhere else is this more true than in Bulgaria.

 

Sustain Europe Senior Writer Yoana Hristova recently travelled to Bulgaria and managed to speak with Georgi Stoyanov from the BPPS to find out more about SLM in Bulgaria, in particular what's being done to protect nature's intelligent recycling system; vultures.

 

 

The project named “Restoration of the Griffon Vulture as a nesting species in the Vrachanska Mountain” aims to recover the species in the region as the bird is crucial to ecosystem`s balance, said Georgi Stoyanov from BPPS, the Birds of Prey Protection Society, one of the organizations implementing the project.

 

The initiative started in 2003 as part of the Balkan Vulture Action Plan. The plan`s objective was to restore the four vulture species (Griffon, Egyptian, Black and Bearded Vultures) on the Balkan Peninsula: in regions with limited vulture population like Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria.

 

In Bulgaria, Griffon vulture restoration activities take place in Kresna Gorge, the Eastern Balkan Mountians (Sliven and Kotel) and the Vrachanska Mountain. While the birds became extinct in those regions, they still have populations in the area of Eastern Rodhopi Mountain.

 

Griffon Vultures in Vrachanska Mountain

 

Vrachanska Mountain is part of the Nature Park Vrachanski Balkan. The latter covers a territory of 28 844 km and hosts 214 vertebrates’ species, according to the Association of Parks in Bulgaria. Nature Park Vrachanski Balkan was declared for a protected area at the end of 1989.

 

“We want to restore the vulture species as it was typical for the region till the middle of last century”, said Stoyanov.

 

This is important because vultures contribute to ecosystem`s clean-up. As the birds eat carcass, they can prevent water contamination and the spread of bacteria and diseases, continued he.

 

However, human activities have seriously affected their populations. Some of the negative factors include prosecution, the use of poisonous substances like pesticides and the decline in livestock breeding in the area.

 

“Vultures eat dead animals. As this food resource is no longer available in sufficient quantities, vultures` numbers plummet”, explained Georgi. Furthermore, modern sanitary requirements state that deceased farm animals should be buried in the ground straight after their dead. As a result, the birds of prey struggle to find food.

 

The restoration project

 

The idea behind the initiative is to recover the Griffon Vulture. Later on, the aim is to restore the Egyptian and Black Vultures.

 

“We follow the methodic of a similar project which was conducted in France. They managed to restore vultures which became extinct more than 30 years ago”, said Stoyanov who leads the restoration actions in the Vrachanska Mountain.

 

In the first phase of the project, from 2003 to 2010, some of the main activities included artificial feeding and monitoring of the birds. For example, a supplementary feeding station was created in 2004 in the region of village Dolno Ozirovo. Besides, the vultures were frequently observed in the feeding site.

 

More than 43 griffon vultures were re-introduced in the Vrachanska Mountain in the period between 2010 and 2015. Stoyanov explained that they imported birds from Spain and France (areas with big populations) and placed them in a big cage, called “voliera”. The vultures stayed there for a year before they were gradually released into the wild.

 

“The goal is to create good conditions on the spot so that the birds can adapt. Then, we hope to create populations in the nature”, said Stoyanov. Still, they continue to feed the vultures artificially and monitor the process.

 

As a result, the first baby Griffon Vulture was born in 2015 after more than 60 years of absence.  “This year, I have seen 6 nesting pairs and 4 babies so far”, said Stoyanov. Yet, he hasn`t located all of them as the birds use to hide in their nesting period. ”I will have more information till the end of this month”, added he.

 

“The re-introduced colonies will not be able to survive without human care”, said Stoyanov. Now, his main concern is finding stable funding which can help them maintain the results.

In the beginning, the main financial help used to come from the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Afterwards, the re-introduction phase was co-funded under the financial instrument LIFE of the European Commission.

 

At the moment, the project is being supported by the Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park and national and international vulture conservationist groups. However, there is no steady financial scheme to guarantee the vultures' survival.