site.btaBulgaria Marks International Day of Forests

Bulgaria marked International Day of Forests, March 21, with various events on Tuesday. The theme for 2023 is "Forests and Health".

In Shumen (Northeastern Bulgaria), Shumen Plateau Nature Park employees together with users and workers of the Rehabilitation Centre for Visually Impaired and pupils from the Sava Dobroplodni Secondary School in the city planted trees in the Kyoshkovete Park. Forests constitute 90% of the Shumen Plateau Nature Park's area, where 535 species of higher plants can be found, 64 of them with a protected status in Bulgaria, the Park recalls. Found here are over 240 species of vertebrates, 345 species of invertebrates, and 28 species of amphibians and reptiles.  

In the Forest Museum at the Yundola Training and Experimental Forest Range (Southwestern Bulgaria), a thematic exhibition was unveiled by Deputy Agriculture Minister Valentin Chambov. Exhibited are items related to the history and development of forestry work in Bulgaria, including uniforms, instruments, and old forestry equipment. Visitors can enter a forest ranger's office, preserved in its authentic look from 1911, and see a ranger's desk and rifle, as well as unique maps of forest territories.  

Experts of the Agriculture Ministry and the Executive Forests Agency, and representatives of the University of Forestry and the Union of Bulgarian Foresters visited the European Forest created in the area in 2006. It was planted by foresters from several European countries and is a good example of new forest plantations.

According to BTA's archives, new forest parks began being actively created in Bulgaria in the 1960s. An article from 1964 speaks of the planting of 300 ha of black pine and cedar trees on both sides of the Ropotamo River. Maritime pines were also planted along the coast of Kiten, Sunny Beach, Sozopol, and other sea resorts. 

The loss of forests equals loss of irreplaceable habitats for the animal and plant world. Forests' protection and sustainable management is the best way to protect the planet and people, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds said in a press release on the occasion of International Day of Forests. The article lists forests' benefits to human health, including through the provision of jobs. In Bulgaria's rural areas, forestry is one of the main employers of the local population, the environmental organization recalls.

International Day of Forests was initiated by the 23rd session of the European Agricultural Confederation of November 1971 and supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization with the goal to draw people's attention to the effective management and protection of the planet's forests, with their rich animal and plant life.