Orders by Environment Minister Borislav Sandov designate five new protected areas. The new protected areas, made public Wednesday in a Facebook post by Sandov, include Miladinitsa, Timok Island, Babu, Belitsa River, and Botunya River. “These orders mean that in less than eight months the current Ministry of Environment and Water has designated a larger area as protected compared to the previous eight governments combined,” the outgoing Minister wrote.
The Miladinitsa protected area, southwestern Bulgaria, aims to protect some exceptionally high Old World sycamores (Platanus orientalis) along the Lebnitsa River.
Timok Island in the Danube, northwestern Bulgaria, hosts a number of rare and endangered water birds, including the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), the pygmy cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus), and the grey heron (Ardea cinerea).
Babu, northwestern Bulgaria, aims to protect specific red sandstone rock formations, rock walls and columns, which allow for the development of educational tourism.
Belitsa River and its riverbank, southwestern Bulgaria, are the home of about a dozen endangered plant and animal species, among which the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), the stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium), and the yellow-bellied toad (Bombina variegata).
The fifth new protected area, the Botunya River in northwestern Bulgaria, is a habitat for 22 species of fish, as well as the Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra). “A number of other protected areas are in the process of designation,” Sandov wrote on his Facebook page.
