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 Macedo ...
n
Danubian island (after
Belene Island and
Kozloduy Island). Located east of the town of
Svishtov, opposite the village of
Vardim (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 Arc ...
, 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 p ...
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 at
Hell Gates in
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 1 ...
in
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 cont ...
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, 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, black poplar, 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.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 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.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 subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an importance: 2 fall into category SPEC1, 11 in SPEC2 and 18 in SPEC3. The sea eagle 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 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