Vardim Island ( bg, остров Вардим, ''ostrov Vardim'') is the third largest

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Danubian The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

island (after

Belene Island Belene Island ( bg, остров Белене, ''ostrov Belene'') or Persin Island (остров Персин, ''ostrov Persin'') is the biggest island in Bulgarian waters. The island is formed by the Danube River splitting into two branches passi ...

and

Kozloduy Island Kozloduy Island ( bg, остров Козлодуй, ''ostrov Kozloduy'') is the second largest Bulgarian Danubian island (after Belene Island). Located opposite the town of Kozloduy, it is 7.5 km in length and between 0.5 and 1.6 km in wi ...

). Located east of the town of

Svishtov Svishtov ( bg, Свищов ) is a town in northern Bulgaria, located in Veliko Tarnovo Province on the right bank of the Danube river opposite the Romanian town of Zimnicea. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svishtov Municipalit ...

, opposite the village of

Vardim {{Infobox settlement , official_name = Vardim , native_name =вардим , image_shield = , image_skyline = , image_caption = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = {{BUL , subdivision_type1 = Province(Oblast) , ...

(in Svishtov municipality,

Veliko Tarnovo Province Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Област Велико Търново, Oblast Veliko Tǎrnovo) is a province in the middle of the northern part of Bulgaria. Its capital city, Veliko Tarnovo, is of historical significance as it is known as the capital of ...

) and part of the Belene Danubian

Archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

, it is a protected

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

and bird nesting area of national importance. The island lies about north of the Bulgarian bank of the Danube, between the 542nd and 546th kilometre from the origin of the river. An inlet-type forest often forms when a part of the island is flooded during the spring high water.

Vardim Rocks Vardim Rocks ( bg, скали Вардим, ‘Skali Vardim’ ska-'li 'var-dim) are a group of rocks situated on the south side of Hell Gates, facing Devils Point in the southwest extremity of Byers Peninsula on Livingston Island in the South ...

Hell Gates Hell Gates () is a narrow (20 m wide) boat passage between the Vardim Rocks and Devils Point on Byers Peninsula, connecting Raskuporis Cove and Osogovo Bay at the southwest end of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. The n ...

Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

are named after Vardim Island and the adjacent settlement of Vardim.Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica:
Vardim Rocks.

Biodiversity

Besides the Vardim oak, a specific hygrophile type of summer oak, other types of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

can be observed on Vardim Island, as well as the

white willow ''Salix alba'', the white willow, is a species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain and Ireland''. BSBI Handbook No. 4. .Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain an ...

white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus'', including: * ''Populus alba'', native to Eurasia * ''Populus grandidentata'', bigtooth aspen * ''Populus tremuloides ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous ...

, black

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

black poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

snowflake A snowflake is a single ice crystal that has achieved a sufficient size, and may have amalgamated with others, which falls through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. ...

, etc. According to the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, the island is one of the five most important nesting areas in the country for the

great cormorant The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a w ...

, the

black-crowned night heron The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...

and the

common spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The genus name ''Platalea'' is from Latin and means "broad", referring to the distinctive shape of the b ...

, making it a site of international

ornithological Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

importance. A total of 21 nationally protected species nidificate on the island. Of the 75 bird species that can be observed on Vardim Island, 31 are of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an importance: 2 fall into category SPEC1, 11 in SPEC2 and 18 in SPEC3. The

sea eagle A sea eagle or fish eagle (also called erne or ern, mostly in reference to the white-tailed eagle) is any of the birds of prey in the genus ''Haliaeetus'' in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Haliaeetus'' ...

can be seen on the island, and until 1985 other species to be observed on it included the

squacco heron The squacco heron (''Ardeola ralloides'') is a small heron, long, of which the body is , with wingspan. It is of Old World origins, breeding in southern Europe and the Greater Middle East. Behaviour The squacco heron is a migrant, wintering ...

glossy ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

and

pygmy cormorant The pygmy cormorant (''Microcarbo pygmaeus'') is a member of the Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant) family of seabirds. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further ...

The Old Oak

In order to protect the natural Vardim oak plantations and the large number of

wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s, The Old Oak area was proclaimed a natural reserve on 5 March 1971 by the Ministry of Forests and Forest Industry. The reserve spreads over an area of 0.718 km², of which 0.646 afforested and 0.072 unforested. On 2 July 1998 it was recategorized as a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

with an area of 0.987 km² by the Committee for the Preservation of the Environment with the

Council of Ministers of Bulgaria The Council of Ministers ( bg, Министерски съвет, ''Ministerski savet'') is the main authority of the executive power in the Republic of Bulgaria. It consists of the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and all the specialized ministers. ...

References

General references

Notes

External links

Map including the island at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds website
{{Danube River islands of Bulgaria Landforms of Veliko Tarnovo Province Islands of the Danube Svishtov Protected areas of Bulgaria