The Minister of Environment and Water Petar Dimitrov hosted a meeting today to seek practical, science-based solutions to minimize the negative impacts of human activity on protected bird species. The meeting was attended by scientists from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Studies (IBES) at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, representatives of the Environmental and Wildlife Crimes Sector at the General Directorate of the National Police, and experts from the Ministry of Environment and Water and the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water – Sofia.

The meeting was held on the occasion of the first recorded case in Bulgaria of the death of a very large number of songbirds from the species mountain finch (Fringilla montifringilla), which is a protected species under the provisions of the Biodiversity Act.

“The practical application of science is the basis for environmental protection actions. And although we have grounds to define the event of New Year’s Eve, which led to the death of hundreds of birds, as an accident, it could have been prevented,” states the opinion by the scientists from IBES-BAS as expressed by Prof. Zehtindzhiev.

The participants in the meeting agreed that to prevent future events of this kind, scientists, representatives of institutions and non-governmental organizations are to work jointly. The goal is to ensure a mutually acceptable and environmentally sound plan for conducting pyrotechnic entertainment events, even in city urban environments.

Further actions were outlined to find a practical solution to significantly reduce the disturbance for birds when using pyrotechnics in festive events to medium and acceptable levels, whereby they could cope by adapting and changing their behavior.