The Kamchia Biosphere Reserve, ( bg, Биосферен Резерват Камчия) is a former UNESCO-listed

biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

on the northern coastline of

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 Macedo ...

, comprising the floodplain at the mouth of the Kamchia River. Consisting largely of alluvial longose groves, (or the ''Longoz'' as it is also known), but also featuring some of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

coastline, the area of the protected habitats in the reserve, together with Kamchia Sands Protected Area, totals 1.200 ha. Established in 1977, it protects the primeval forest from the intensive

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

and

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic condition ...

that had decimated it by mid-20th century. It is situated 25 km south of the town of Varna and is enclosed by the villages of Staro Oriahovo, Shkorpilovtsi and Bliznatsi. The biosphere reserve status was removed in 2017.

History

A reserve was established in 1951 to protect the remnants of floodplain forests which had once covered a considerably larger area. The biosphere reserve itself was established in 1977, as with all other Biosphere Reserves in Bulgaria. The area has been subject to

and

attempts in the past. The reserve status was under revision in 2016 and was withdrawn in 2017, and publicly announced on June 14.

Geography

The core area of the reserve is 842.1 ha, (with a buffer zone of 230 ha), some 764 ha of it is afforested, and the rest 78.1 ha is not afforested, (34.5 ha of meadows, 0.4 ha of channels, 3.3 ha of openings, 21.8 ha of swamps, 9.9 ha of marshlands etc.), the reserve is 40 km in length and reaches 5 km in width in some areas. The "Longoz" forests in the lower course of the river are the best representatives of their kind throughout Europe. Within the reserve there are remnant riverine forests, small freshwater marshes of Phragmites and Typha along the riverbank, arable land (the former Staro-Oryachovo marshes), a beach with sand-dunes, and a sea bay.

Fauna

The area is a key site for birds and harbours almost 200 species, eight of which are considered endangered and are listed in the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...

. The site is important for wintering ''

Cygnus cygnus The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/) (''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, pronounced ''hooper swan'', is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type speci ...

'' and is the most important breeding area in Bulgaria for the Middle spotted woodpecker'' Dendrocopos medius'' and the semi-collared flycatcher '' Ficedula semitorquata''. The locality is also a major migratory bottleneck site, where 60,000 or more

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to e ...

s pass overhead each autumn. Other birds include a small colony of little egrets ('' Egretta garzetta'') and the rare half-collared flycatcher (''Ficedula albicollis semitorquata''). Twenty-five fish species have been recorded in the river, seven of which are listed under the IUCN Redlist, including wild common carp, (''

Cyprinus carpio The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive Th ...

''), ''

Knipowitschia caucasica ''Knipowitschia caucasica'', the Caucasian dwarf goby, is a species of goby native to marine, fresh and brackish waters along the coasts of the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the Caspian Sea and the Aegean Sea and to the Haliacmon drainage of Greece ...

'' and the Aral stickleback, (''

Pungitius platygaster The Ukrainian stickleback (''Pungitius platygaster'') also known as the Caspian ninespine stickleback, southern ninespine stickleback, and Aral ninespine stickleback, is a species of fish in the family Gasterosteidae. It is found in Afghanistan, ...

''). Mammals in the biosphere reserve include roe deer (''

Capreolus capreolus The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

''), wild boar (''

Sus scrofa The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is n ...

''), pine marten (''

Martes martes The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. ...

'') and fox (''

Vulpes vulpes The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

'') There are also many reptiles and amphibians, including the European pond turtle (''

Emys orbicularis The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palea ...

''), tessellated water snake (''

Natrix tessellata ''Natrix'' is a genus of Old World snakes found across Eurasia (although the range of '' Natrix tessellata'' extends into Egypt and those of '' N. astreptophora'' and '' N. maura'' into north-west Africa) in the subfamily Natricinae of the ...

'') and alligator lizard (''

Ophisaurus apodus The sheltopusik (''Pseudopus apodus''), also commonly called Pallas's glass lizard the European legless lizard, or the European glass lizard, is a species of large glass lizard found from Southern Europe to Central Asia. Etymology ''Pseudo ...

''). There are twenty-five species of small mammals known to inhabit the reserve, including the European otter, ('' Lutra lutra''), which is on the European IUCN Red List.

Flora

The forests are dominated by ash ('' Fraxinus oxyphylla''),

Ulmus 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 ...

, oak (''

Quercus pedunculiflora ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

''), '' Acer'' and ''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few s ...

'', with scrub of ''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and West Asia, but has been introduced i ...

'', ''

Cornus ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrub ...

'', '' Paliurus'' and '' Ligustrum'', and lianas of ''

Clematis ''Clematis'' is a genus of about 300 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' × ''jackmanii'', a garden standby since 1862; more hybrid cultivars ...

'', ''

Smilax ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

'' and '' Periploca''.

Environment and Pollution

Most of the pollution in the reserve is associated with the River Kamchia's load and pollutants present there, however, that litter from tourists was once a major problem for the local authorities. Mainly this was because there was bridge which allowed people to visit the reserve. It was later destroyed and litter became less of a problem, however since it is still possible to cross the river mouth on to the beach area of the reserve, ''(see image)'', the problem has not entirely been resolved. Additionally litter and industrial pollutants are regularly washed up on the shore, much of which either come from the port of Varna or the nearby Resort of Kamchia, (which shares the same beach line).

Pollution associated with the river

A 2006 study conducted by the Institute of Oceanology and the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; bg, Българска академия на науките, ''Balgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated ''БАН'') is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy ...

on the water quality and its impact on the Black Sea coastal zone, (''and so on the reserve as well'') concluded that Other environmental issues are that the river is purportedly becoming marshy. The water lily, torfaceous snowdrop, and white Kamchia lily are also disappearing according to the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

. The Storage Battery Plant in Targovishte is a significant polluter, spilling heavy metals into the Kamchia River. Cattle breeding is the second major source of water pollution and directly affects sources of drinking water. Due to a serious lack of water purification stations on cattle farms, non-purified waste waters pour into the various water basins. The same holds true for the underground waters, as nitrates, phosphates, and other minerals used in farming are dissolved and washed away by rains, to appear subsequently in water basins and mineral springs. As the river runs directly through the biosphere reserve, it has a strong impact on ecosystems within it. Since the entire area is irrigated by the river all of the animals and plants living there are dependent on it for their survival. However, on a more positive note, as a result of improvements to the Kamchia River, it no longer floods the dense forest. It was seen as responsible for the spread of

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into America, Europe ...

, which was causing great damage to elms and ash trees.

References

External links

*http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=BUL+08&mode=all, UNESCO MAB Directory listing for Kamchia *https://web.archive.org/web/20070826143833/http://kamchia.net/natur_en.htm *http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=410&m=0 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamchia (Biosphere Reserve) Nature reserves in Bulgaria Bulgarian Black Sea Coast Geography of Varna Province Tourist attractions in Burgas Province Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Bulgaria