20.05.2022
30 years since the establishment of the Natura 2000 ecological network
Today - 21 May, we celebrate the European day of the Natura 2000 ecological network.
On 21 May 1992, exactly 30 years ago, the European Union (EU) adopted the Habitats Directive and established the LIFE Program as a financial instrument supporting projects for protection of the environment, nature, and climate across the EU. The approval of this innovative legislative act is starting with the establishment of the Natura 2000 ecological network, the largest, complex and coordinated network of protected areas in the world.
The Habitats Directive regulates the procedure for the selection of significant conservation areas, which must subsequently be designated as Special protected areas.
The Birds Directive was approved in 1979 to address concerns about the reduction of populations of different migratory and local birds across Europe. The two directives together form the legal framework for Natura 2000.
Today, the network of protected areas takes 18% of the EU's land area and 9% of the sea area, representing land areas with the size of Spain and Romania, taken together and marine territory as large as Sweden. Natura 2000 plays a key role in preserving Europe's unique natural heritage, offering shelter for around 1400 species of wild animals and plants and 460 species of birds. By its very nature, it is a complex system of important breeding, feeding and resting places for rare and endangered species, as well as some rare natural habitat types, which are unique ecosystems per se.
On the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Natura 2000 ecological network on 19 May, representatives of EVN Bulgaria took part in a seminar on the topic "Importance and opportunities of the Natura 2000 ecological network" organized by RIEW Plovdiv, which took place at the Agricultural university in Plovdiv. Experts from state and municipal institutions, representatives of the scientific community and the non-governmental sector, students from Plovdiv higher education institutions, studying in the field of natural science and ecology took part in the seminar. The focus was on policies to improve the ecological conservation status of natural habitats, the opportunities provided by the ecological network, etc.
The seminar promoted the new project of Elektrorazpredelenie Yug in partnership with the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), funded by the EC LIFE Program -LIFE Safe Grid for Burgas, which will take place on the territory of 4 Natura 2000 zones - Burgas Lake (BG0000273), Pomorie Lake (BG0000152), Atanasovsko Lake (BG0000270) and Mandra-Poda (BG0000271). The project aims to conserve protected bird species, by reducing the mortality due to contact with the electricity distribution grid.
