A new generation of activists puts up barricades to defend Natura 2000 in Bulgaria and elsewhere in CEE
By Pavel Antonov
Each weekday morning Christina, 37, walks from her apartment block to the nearby avenue and hops onto a 'marshrutka,' one of the many crowded minibuses that roll along Sofia's hectic streets. At 8:30 A.M. she sets her morning coffee on her desk and starts work. As a junior administrator at Bulgaria's Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works, Christina (an assumed identity, at her request) has a job that many people her age dream about, but ambition hasn't prevented her from spending part of every Thursday morning for the past few months in front of another government building, the Council of Ministers, which is where she coordinates a group of young people protesting against the ongoing destruction of Bulgaria's wilderness heritage.
The assault on biodiversity is nothing new in Europe, but efforts in opposition are also making history. On May 21, conservationists celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Habitats Directive, which many call the EU's most important legal tool for preserving biodiversity. The directive's key achievement thus far is Natura 2000, a network of protected areas in Europe that currently covers roughly one-sixth of EU territory. But among the EU laws Bulgaria had to digest quickly on its way to accession, it is Natura 2000 that has proven the most contentious. Mayors, construction firms, municipalities, government ministers, and even some NGOs, have been involved in a bitter row with the European network since last November. Christina and her friends, with the support of several green NGOs, are getting involved in the verbal fray as well, but pro-environment activists claim to be outnumbered.
Over-construction
In the past three years an avalanche of construction projects has swept through Bulgaria's most attractive tourist areas, e.g. the Pirin, Rila, Balkan and Rhodope mountain ranges, and the Black Sea coast. The Bulgarian government, local administrators, businessmen and their lobbyists in Parliament have all embraced and defended such development schemes as an easy way to bring fresh capital into what is currently the EU's poorest country.
Pro-development parties naturally view Natura 2000 as a threat to business and quick profits, but one neo-liberal think-tank, the Market Economy Institute of Sofia, has gone so far as to call the provision an instrument of injustice and expropriation of private property. Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev was quoted by the media as saying that Bulgaria should not become Europe's "nature preserve." The PM's government also redrew proposed maps to reduce the amount of Natura 2000 sites from 35 percent of national territory to 18 percent, meanwhile postponing for "further clarification" any discussion of proposed coastal areas and potential ski resorts until October.
On the other side, nature protection organisations like the Green Balkans Federation and the Bulgarian Birds Protection Society argue that the Bulgarian government is violating an EU law that requires Natura 2000 territories to be assigned according to purely scientific criteria. The two organisations were originally contracted by the country's Environment Ministry to draft the Natura maps for network coverage in Bulgaria, and were summarily dealt the heaviest critical blows from Natura 2000 opponents.
The two organisations joined with 15 other NGOs in April to form the Save Bulgaria's Nature coalition, and met EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas in Sofia to air their concerns. One such concern was that more than 800 permits were issued in a single three-month period to carry out coastal construction projects on land originally designated Natura 2000 territory. Also, the original maps excluded land covered by urban development plans by 2004, but the government moved back the deadline, thus giving municipalities an opportunity to redesign plans to better serve business interests, the NGOs warned.
Missing EU targets
Natura 2000, often referred to as 'the backbone of Europe's nature protection efforts,' is essential for halting biodiversity loss by 2010, a goal to which EU leaders committed themselves in 2001. Most member states have made good progress in establishing the network, although establishing site designation has been difficult. Nonetheless, new member state Slovenia succeeded in allocating more than one-third of its territory to Natura 2000, the highest proportion of land of any EU country. However, according to the European Habitats Forum (EHF), other countries remain far short of meeting their European responsibilities.
"Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria are examples of countries which must now accelerate designation of their Natura 2000 sites," says BirdLife International's Konstantin Kreiser.
"It's not just a legal obligation, it's also essential if we're to save European nature for our future generations. Endangered species, like the imperial eagle [Aquila heliaca], brown bear [Ursus arctos] or European bison [Bison bonasus] need places to survive, and we all need a diverse and healthy environment."
Voices of concern echoed in Brussels. After a few months of delay, the European Commission (EC) began sending a strong message of its own: "Hands off Natura 2000!" In June, Bulgarian daily Dnevnik cited Ladislav Miko, director of the EC Directorate for Protecting the Natural Environment, as saying that the complete list of Natura 2000 territories in Bulgaria would likely be received in July, or September at the latest. Miko also warned that legal proceedings will be launched against Bulgaria if unjustified delays continue. In a letter to Environment Minister Djavdet Chakarov the director criticised the investors' lobby and the lack of information made available to the general public.
EHF, a coalition of European conservation organisations, together with the European Environmental Bureau, recently published 'Saving Biodiversity: Releasing Natura 2000's Potential.' The report identified the following priorities: better implementation and enforcement efforts from member states and the EC, setting conservation objectives for Natura 2000 sites, full participation in the implementation process by all relevant stakeholders, a transparent and user-friendly information system on the exact location and status of protected sites, consistent interpretation of key legal definitions, and — perhaps most importantly — proper EU community co-financing for network implementation.
While policy recommendations take time, real things are hotting up. Last June Bulgaria's Supreme Court revoked the protected status of the Kamtchia Sands natural reserve to green-light yet another construction project. This threw the conservation community into panic, as it opened the door for targeting other protected areas. Indeed, the coastal municipality of Tsarevo immediately sought a similar judgment against another protected area: the Strandja Nature Park. Park advocates had thus far blocked construction of a seaside holiday village, but now await a court decision on Strandja's very existence as a protected area.
Lobbying interests are further crippling policy intentions. The Bulgarian Parliament adopted its 'Law on Regulating the Bulgarian Coast' in June. Originally drafted to halt illegal construction along the coast and introduce strict regulations, last-minute changes proposed by ruling coalition members have prevented the law from coming into force until 2010.
Popular protest
Skyrocketing development in public spaces and the government's apparent inability to reign in the construction industry has brought at least one positive outcome. The latent anger that many Bulgarians feel has led them to the streets and wilderness areas to protest.
"We realised that we can't depend on the state apparatus or the EU to prevent construction on Irakli, our favourite pristine beach area, which is why we took things into our hands," says Christina. Her 'Save Irakli' campaign has inspired others, and new committees in favour of Natura 2000 (or simply against over-construction) have emerged across the country. Similar developments in Poland and elsewhere in CEE bring hope for Europe's remaining pristine nature areas, and for democracy and good governance in the region.
