Central Balkan National Park
Encyclopedia
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, nestled in the central and higher portions of the Balkan Range. The Park contains rare and endangered wildlife species and communities, self-regulating ecosystems of biological diversity, as well as historical sites of global cultural and scientific significance.
History
Park statistics
- Area: 71,669.5 hectares
- Total length: 85 km
- Average width: 10 km
- Highest peak: BotevBotev PeakBotev Peak is, at 2,376 m above sea level, the highest peak of the Balkan Mountains. It is located close to the geographic centre of Bulgaria, and is part of the Central Balkan National Park....
at 2,376 meters above sea level - Lowest elevation: near KarlovoKarlovoKarlovo is a picturesque and a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains...
, about 500 meters above sea level - Wooded area: 44,000.8 hectares
- Treeless area: 27,668.7 hectares
- 70% of all ecosystems are natural
- There are 9 nature reserves, with a combined area of 20,019 hectares
Protected area
The Central Balkan National Park is one of the largest and most valuable of the protected areas in Europe. The World Conservation UnionWorld Conservation Union
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
(IUCN) has listed the Park as Category 2. The Park and eight of its nature reserves are on the UN List of Representative Protected Areas, and four of its nature reserves are included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves
World Network of Biosphere Reserves
The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves covers internationally-designated protected areas, known as biosphere reserves, that are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between man and nature The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves covers internationally-designated protected...
under the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Man and Biosphere Program. The Central Balkan National Park has become a full member of the WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
-led PAN (Protected Area Network) Parks
PAN Parks
PAN Parks works to protect Europe's wilderness, the continent's most undisturbed areas of nature.PAN Parks, the only European-wide organisation focusing on the protection of wilderness areas, applies an approach combining wilderness protection and sustainable tourism development.The organisation...
.
Ecosystems
Centuries-old forests of beechBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
, fir
Fir
Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...
, hornbeam
Hornbeam
Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae...
, and durmast oak cover most of the Park. More than half the flora of Bulgaria has been identified within the Park, and of these, 10 species and 2 subspecies are endemic, and are found nowhere else in the world. Over 130 higher plants and animals encountered in the Central Balkan National Park are listed in the Bulgarian and the World Red Book of Endangered Species.
There are 166 known species of medicinal plants, 12 are protected by law. In addition, there are 229 species of moss, 256 species of mushrooms, and 208 species of algae. The central portion of the Balkan Range is home to 70% of all invertebrate organisms and 62% of all vertebrate animals in Bulgaria. There are 224 separate species of birds, making the Central Balkan National Park an important, international bird refuge.
The EU-funded CORINE BIOTOPS Project created a habitat classification methodology and 49 of the CORINE classified types of habitats are represented in the Central Balkan National Park. Of these, 24 are included on the 'List of Endangered Habitats', requiring special protection measures pursuant to the EU Convention on Habitats
Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats
The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats 1979, also known as the Bern Convention , came into force on June 1, 1982....
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