The Minister of Environment and Water signed an agreement with the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences to develop specific and detailed conservation objectives for 22 protected areas from the “Natura 2000” network.

The development of specific and detailed conservation objectives is in line with the guidelines of the European Commission to attain full compliance with the requirements of Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora and Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of natural resources and wild birds and are to be developed individually for each protected area.

Conservation objectives at the protected area level constitute a set of specific objectives that should be fulfilled in an area in order to ensure, on the one hand, the long-term protection of natural habitat types and species within the area and, on the other - that it contributes in the best possible way to achieve or maintain the favorable condition of the respective type of natural habitat and species within the biogeographical region and the country.

With the agreement signed today, the total number of areas for which the development of specific and detailed nature protection objectives has been commissioned increased to 86. Specific objectives for 43 protected areas are currently under development, the content of two of which has been consulted with international experts provided by the EC services. The development of the specific and detailed conservation objectives for all other protected areas is planned to be carried out within the framework of a project proposal included in the draft of the Recovery and Resilience Plan.

The specific and detailed objectives are the foundation for a more precise identification of conservation measures and should be based on scientific knowledge and qualitative information on the condition of the area, the species and natural habitats protected within it, as well as the main impacts and threats that may affect them.