The Ministry of Environment and Waters (MOEW) and research institutes of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) are starting work on the postponed Natura 2000 zones, Focus News Agency reported. This was agreed on April 3 at a meeting between the Minister of Environment and Waters Djevdet Chakurov and the directors of the Institute of the Forest, academician Alexander Alexandrov, the Institute of Botanics, Professor Dimiter Peev and the Institute of Zoology, Professor Mladen Zhivkov.
The MOEW said that the co-operation between it and BAS would continue not only on the postponed zones but also on the whole process of setting up of the network for protected zones in Bulgaria.
On April 10, Bulgarian-language Dnevnik reported WWF Co-ordinator Alberto Arroyo as saying that the approach of the Bulgarian Government to Natura 2000 was problematic. He said that he could not understand why there was such strong resistance against the European environmental network in Bulgaria. People in Bulgaria who rally against Natura 2000 do not know what it stands for, he said.
On April 6, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported that for four weeks, environmentalists and citizens had been trying to attract Cabinet ministers attention before weekly Cabinet meetings. We want to show we are concerned about the EU-wide conservation network Natura 2000, said Genadi Kondarev of the Natura 2000 initiative committee. He said that two weeks previously, the environmentalists had called on the Government to explain why it had reduced the number of areas proposed for inclusion in the network.
On April 5, conservation activitists presented to the Government tables and graphics comparing the possible size of the fine for not adhering to Natura 2000 commitments and the annual revenue to the state budget from Bulgarias tourism industry up to 2016. The revenue earned from tourism in 2006 was estimated because the Finance Ministry or other institutions did not make this information public, the environmentalists said. They used comparative information from revenue proceeds from tourism in 2004, taking into account the growth expected and experienced. For breaching Natura 2000 rules, Bulgaria could face sanctions of 100 000 euro a day. The graphic showed that it could take between eight and 10 years to compensate for losses because of the sanctions.
