Today the Minister of Environment and Water Borislav Sandov signed orders declaring five new protected areas: “Miladinitsa”, “Timok Island”, “Belitsa River”, “Botunya River Coast" and the natural landmark “Babu”.

The protected area “Miladinitsa” (municipality of Sandanski) covers ​​over 16 decares and is declared for the protection of a natural complex along the Lebnitsa river and specimens of remarkable size of Eastern plane tree (Platanus orientalis).

The “Timok Island” area of ​​over 6 acres (in the land of the village of Vrav, Bregovo municipality) is already under protection for habitats of endangered, rare and vulnerable waterfowl and such that nest on the Danube islands. These are great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), little cormorant (Microcarbo pygmeus), gray heron (Ardea cinerea), little egret (Egretta garzetta) and shoveler (Platalea leucorodia). The territory has a characteristic river landscape, incl. floodplain forests, which are suitable resting place for conservation-important bird species and a potential nesting place.

The protected area “Belitsa River” (in the lands of the Belitsa village, Tryavna municipality), located on 542 decares, has also been declared. It will protect the populations of protected and endangered species, such as brook crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium), otter (Lutra lutra), yellow-bellied pufferfish (Bombina variegata), pearl clam (Unio crassus), Balkan moose (Romanogobio (Gobio) kesslerii), little moose (Romanogobio (Gobio) uranoscopus), Balkan pinch (Sabanejewia balcanica), etc. The riverside forests with the participation of alder (Alnus spp.) and mountain ash (Fraxinus excelsior) are also valuable.

The fourth protected area “Botunya River Coast” is of about 346 decares in the lands of the villages of Ohrid and Palilula, Boychinovtsi municipality. The conservation focuses on part of the Botunya river basin which is habitat for 22 species of fish and one mammal species - otter (Lutra lutra), under the Biodiversity Act, as well as a territory with a characteristic and remarkable landscape.

The natural landmark “Babu” extends over about 290 decares (in the lands of the village of Sredogriv, Chuprene municipality and the village of Gyurgich, Ruzhintsi municipality, Vidin region) and is declared for the purpose of preserving characteristic red sandstone rock formations, rock walls and columns, which form a remarkable object of inanimate nature with opportunities for the development of cognitive tourism.

A number of other protected areas are also in the process of being declared. With these new decisions, in less than 8 months, the current leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Water has declared more protected areas in terms of territory than the previous 8 governments combined.