State: Blagoevgrad, KyustendilArea: 2434,86 ха
Ownership: state - 7%; municipality - 21%; private - 72%;
Description:
The site is located in south-western Bulgaria, in the Blagoevgrad kettle plain. Its territory is locked between main road E87 and the town of Kocherinovo on the west, the road connecting the towns of Kocherinovo and Rila on the north and the town of Rila on the east. Its southern border passes to the north of the village of Stob, making a turn to the east at the village of Porominovo and encompassing the area between the village and Barakovo residential area back to main road E79 on the west. The site includes several types of habitats, the main one being the mesophyte and alluvial – meadow grass formations – wet meadows, pastures and other open grasslands overgrown with Festuca pratensis, Poa sylvicola, Agrostis stolonifera, etc., located in the lower stream of the Rilska river and around its last left tributary. A big share of the territory is occupied by farmland. There are some orchards too.
Birds:
Kocherinovo is of international importance for the conservation of the globally threatened Corncrake Crex crex and one of the most important sites in the country on European Union scale for the White Stork Ciconia ciconia that breed there in considerable numbers. The White Stork nests in the settlements on the site’s periphery and uses the wet meadows for foraging.
Threats:
The area is sensitive to the human activities related mainly to the traditional land use, agriculture and water management. The drainage of the wet meadows cause disturbance of the water regime of the area and deterioration of the key habitats for endangered species as the Corncrake and the White Stork. In addition to this conversion of the grasslands into arable land cause complete loss of the key habitat for these species. The maintenance of haymaking and grazing activities are of vital importance for the maintenance of the grasslands. Other activity leading to deterioration of bird habitats is the insufficient waste management. Hunting and poaching are common practice in the area and cause disturbance to birds.
Legal protection:
The area does not have legal protection by the national conservation legislation. There is one natural monument – Stob pyramids, designated in 1964, which is on border with the part of the site. In 2005 the area was designated as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
