Eng. R. Radev: The protective belts need to be restored.
Annual monitoring visit of project “Forests of the Northeast”
In the period 21-22.03.2022 an annual monitoring visit of project „Forests of the Northeast“ was held with the participation of Mr. Ivaylo Zafirov – monitoring expert from the consortium for monitoring and evaluation of the LIFE Programme NEEMO EEIG – who concluded he is satisfied with project results achieved so far.
During the visit, progress was reported with the eradication of invasive species on an area of 35.6 ha in three of the targeted protected SCIs: Kraimorska Dobrudja, Harsovska Reka and Kamchia. On an area of 7.5 hectares, after the eradication of Robinia pseudoacacia plantations, barley was sown, thus stopping the development of shoots/re-sprouts and reducing the use of herbicides for their destruction. This innovative approach is applied for the first time in our country and its effectiveness is yet to be assessed during the project implementation process.
At current stage of project implementation 1269 kg of seeds of different tree species were collected and 59,220 saplings were produced, which will be used for afforestation of the areas already free of invasive alien species. To date a total of 9.4 ha are afforested in the Kamchia Natura 2000 Protected Site. 29,070 container saplings were sown in the nursery of the Southwestern State Enterprise – Lokorsko, and the seeds are collected from the areas where afforestation will be carried out. Priority for use under the project are local species resistant to drought, which is increasingly pronounced in Northeastern Bulgaria. The forecasts for the expected climate change in Dobrudja and their impact on the distribution of tree species are part of an expert report prepared as part of the project „Forests of the Northeast“.
The project is implemented with the financial support of the LIFE Nature 2019 Programme of the European Commission. The main project objective is to eradicate plantations of invasive alien species that are in unfavorable condition and to restore priority forest habitats in 10 protected sites of the Natura 2000 network in Northeastern Bulgaria.
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