The National Nature Protection Service (NNPS) Directorate at the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) successfully completed the implementation of the project "Knowledge for Natura 2000" funded by Operational Programme "Environment 2014-2020". The project’s total cost amounts to 4 300 000 BGN, of which 3 655 000 BGN are provided by the European Regional Development Fund and 645 000 BGN  are national co-funding. The project was launched in December 2017 and the beneficiary is the National Nature Protection Service Directorate at the Ministry of Environment.

"The implementation of the project builds on the Ministry's efforts to ensure effective management of the Natura 2000 network," Deputy Minister Nikolay Sidzhimov said at the opening of the event. He thanked the project management team for their efforts to address the challenges during the implementation of "Knowledge for Natura 2000".

"’The Knowledge for Natura 2000’ project is the largest effort ever carried out in Bulgaria to raise public awareness about the Natura 2000 network and its objectives and the measures we are putting in place to achieve these objectives", said Miroslav Kalugerov, Director of the NNPS Directorate and Head of the project beneficiary. He added that Bulgaria's contribution is huge within the Natura 2000 ecological network, with 34.9% of the country's territory included in the network. "This is an outstanding success and a responsibility for our society to preserve our beautiful nature," added Kalugerov.

The main objectives of the project are to align initial awareness, expand it, and provide up-to-date and expert information to stakeholders on the Natura 2000 network, as well as to update the National Prioritised Action Framework (NPAF) on Natura 2000.

As a result of the project activities, the National Prioritised Framework for Action on Natura 2000 was updated. Three national campaigns were held to increase support and knowledge on Natura 2000 management in Bulgaria, as well as 3 international forums on the most current issues related to Natura 2000.

The national contest "Knowledge for Natura 2000" was held three times within the project implementation with a total of 6 838 participants. An interactive contest tool - "a quiz", was developed for the implementation of the contests, with the possibility for citizens and organizations from all regions of Bulgaria to participate. Information about each of the three national online competitions is published on the platform https://natura2000.bg/.

A total of more than 3 000 people participated in the three national campaigns, each including one national and 28 regional events. The digital campaign reached 2 077 751 unique users, with 43 266 people visiting the project website www.natura2000.bg.

This document has been produced with the financial support of Operational Programme "Environment 2014-2020", co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund, under project BG16M1OP002-3.006-0001-C04 "Knowledge for Natura 2000" with beneficiary the National Nature Protection Service Directorate at the Ministry of Environment and under no circumstances can be assumed that its content reflects the official opinion of the European Union and the Managing Authority.

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