site.btaFire in Rila Monastery Nature Park Engulfs Habitats of Golden Eagle, Three-Toed Woodpecker

A hard-to-suppress fire, which until recently smoldered high in the Rila Monastery Nature Park, has engulfed the habitats of the golden eagle and the extremely rare three-toed woodpecker, protected in the Natura 2000 ecological network, WWF Bulgaria said on Tuesday.

Over 50 acres of coniferous forests of white pine and spruce with an average age of 110 years, as well as pastures, have been affected, the organization noted, stressing that if the fire resumes and spreads north, it will engulf old spruce forests over 170 years old.

Environmentalists also warned of serious consequences of the fire in Sakar, where there is an extremely rich biodiversity of birds, reptiles and amphibians and which is home to the globally endangered imperial eagle and the lesser spotted eagle, WWF stated.

They noted that a tour by the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Centre of the area between the villages of Stefan Karadzhovo and Dabovo revealed almost 100 animals who died during the fires, including turtles, loggerheads and numerous insects, which are food for wild animals. The organization added that currently, the fire covers territories of the Kresna-Ilindentsi protected areas, noting that hundreds of acres of forest have been burned.

Kostadin Valchev, senior expert in the WWF Forests programme, pointed out that the forest is currently under enormous stress from climate change, which is leading to higher temperatures, longer periods of drought and other extreme climatic phenomena.