At its last meeting for the year, the Management Board of the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities allocated funds to sure the annual budget for 2023 for the Rescue Center for wild animals in Stara Zagora.

The Center for Rehabilitation and Breeding of Rare Species is managed by the non-profit association “Green Balkans - Stara Zagora”. In addition to supporting the state efforts to fulfill obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Center actively works to protect the protected species of the Bulgarian fauna, assisting the structures of the Ministry of Environment and Water in their work on the implementation of the Biodiversity Act. All Bulgarian species of birds in need of treatment and recovery are sent by RIEW to the Rescue Center in Stara Zagora. The number of reports and prescriptions by the RIEW in country-wide is constantly increasing, as well as the number of alerts from other specialized regional units of the Ministry of Health, the Executive Agency Forestry, the Ministry of Interior, and the emergency telephone line 112. The progressively increasing “patient flow” also leads to rising expenses for animal food, veterinary supplies and medicines, electricity and security.

On average, more than 2,000 wild animals in need of help are admitted to the Center annually. More than 40% of them are successfully released back into the wild. These include many species with a high conservation status, such as curled and pink pelicans, red-breasted geese, Egyptian and griffon vultures, golden eagles, falcons, herons, pelicans, storks, and many others.

The Management Board also decided to provide a grant to ensure the annual maintenance of the Municipal Enterprise “Zoo - Rescue Center” in Varna. According to the Law on Biological Diversity, the zoo in Varna is designated to perform the functions of a rescue center for wild animals. It has a smaller capacity compared to the center in Stara Zagora. Its most common patients are birds that have received serious injuries and suffered subsequent exhaustion, trauma from high-voltage electricity, severe worming, poisoning or exposure to petroleum products, etc. In the past year, 60 animals, including reptiles, mammals, and birds, were treated at the “Zoo - Rescue Center” in Varna. Fifty percent of them were successfully cured, rehabilitated, and released.

In order to provide an opportunity for the Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities to move to its own building, which has been worked for since 2015, at the meeting it was also decided that the executive director is to take the necessary actions to obtain the right to manage a property of a public state ownership.

At the moment, the enterprise is housed in a rented office building, which entails high rental costs and prevents archiving of documentation on site due to lack of proper space.