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Description
Bulgaria repeatedly fails to perform its commitments for the application of the EU community policy for biodiversity protection. Ever since 2012-2013 the relevant policies and legislative documents are of unacceptable quality and several infringement procedures have been brought against the country. Public involvement of independent experts outside of public institutions has lost its meaning and has been replaced by pseudo-democratic and state-rigged forms of “civic engagement”. The project aims at analyzing professionally the weaknesses and shortcomings with the help of 3 of the legislative documents on biodiversity protection: 1. management priorities and direction in the National Prioritised Action Framework for NATURA 2000; 2. Issuance of orders and prioritization of environmental protection goals and measures to define protected areas as habitats in “Document on the goals of NATURA 2000”; 3. reporting biodiversity status under the Habitats and the Birds Directives. The documents are to be adopted or updated. Analyses will be prepared and proposals will be made to improve the documents with the help of experts, who played a major role until 2013 for the setting up of NATURA 2000 network and for the legislative documents, approaches and methodologies for its management. The professional community involved in NATURA 2000 will be also consulted, i.e. organizations, scholars, experts - importers and respondents of protected areas. The analyses and recommendations will be presented to the public bodies involved with environmental protection.
Summary of project results
The project objective was to offer an expert analysis of main normative and strategic documents, related to the implementation of the biodiversity conservation policy in Bulgaria. This had to be done through a qualitative and effectiveness assessment of the development of the latter, along with an assessment of their success in implementation of Bulgaria’s and EU biodiversity policy.
In the course of a detailed analysis performed by a team of experts in the field of biodiversity (habitats, plants, birds, animals, policies) main conclusions were drawn and recommendations developed.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the political crisis of 2021 in Bulgaria, which related to the need to set up a new government and a governance team in the responsible for biodiversity conservation policy Ministry – the Ministry of Environment and Water – pressed for some delays in project implementation with almost a year. That led to holding final consultations and presentation of these as part of the consultative process with independent experts and final product presentation to decision makers in the first quarter of 2022.
As a result of the change in priorities of the then (newly appointed) government, it was possible for some of the outcomes of the project to be embraced and be practically used and practically considered. Some of the recommendations on the Priority Action Framework were integrated in its final version as adopted by the government in February 2022, and also priority area orders also took into account some of the proposition – to effectively be used in amending some existing and drafting new orders. Project result presentation was welcome and provoked interest amongst the academic and scientific community, thanks to the active participation of representatives of the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences at the final conference. The recommendations with regard to the content and methodology of developing the orders for protected areas, in the course of editing of existing ones and of setting up newly drafted orders for protected areas. The materials from the research were broadly disseminated amongst representatives of key institutions, responsible for biodiversity conservation, and among scientists, academic institutions. In a laymen-friendly version the adapted text was disseminated via diverse online channels by the 3 partner organisations, including via online channels (organisational websites, etc.).