The first building from the international children's development of Kamchiya (an international holiday village for children) will see its ground broken in October at the Black Sea site of Kamchiisky Pyasutsi.

The area, whose protected area status was removed by the Government in 2006, is being invested in by the Russian government.

On September 4 the Bulgarian Government decided to change the status of forests near the biosphere reserve of Kamchiya, excluding woods from the State forest fund. This followed the 2006 decision of the Supreme Administrative Court to "close down" Kamchiiski Pyasutsi protected area, which is also in this area, To Sustain the Nature in Bulgaria (SNB) coalition said in a media statement.

The forests were excluded from the state forest fund to pave the way for construction, SNB said.

Kamchiiski Pyasutsi reserve includes the biggest Black Sea beach in Bulgaria and protects the unique combination of dunes and dense forestry, SNB said. Dense forests in temperate climates are rare natural phenomena worldwide but particularly prevalent in Bulgaria. The forests at the mouth of Kamchiya River are some of the most northerly in Europe and also lie on birds' migration route between Europe and Africa, accounting for the decision to declare it a biosphere reserve. Kamchiiski Pyasutsi and Kamchiya reserves are also part of Natura 2000 European environmental network.

Stanka Shopova, the executive director of Sanitary-Health Development Kamchiya AD, said that more than 150 million euro would be invested in the new 30-hectare resort by 2010.

The Russian company acquired the area from the Bulgarian State Forestry Agency through exchanges, Bulgarian-language daily Dnevnik reported on September 14. The change of the purpose of the lands was completed in the middle of the summer.

According to official data, during the past seven years 800ha of forestry was removed from the Varna region state forest fund, more than 80ha of which lie at the mouth of Kamchiya River. In this area, the Russian company owns a total of 45ha.