State: Haskovo, Plovdiv, Stara ZagoraArea: 11505,23 ха
Ownership: state - 24%; municipality - 17%; private - 59%;
Description:
The site includes the Maritsa riverbed in the region of the town of Parvomay riverine habitats and agricultural lands along its stream. It stretches from the villages of Chalukovtsi and Popovitsa on the west to Velikan and Yabalkovo on the east and from Mirovo, Gradina, Krushevo and Dobri Dol on the north to Debar, Karadzhalovo and Skobelevo on the south. The riverine forests along Maritsa are dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Salix alba, S. fragilis, Populus nigra, P. alba at some place mixed with plantations of hybrid poplar. Small patches of oak forest are dispersed among the arable land. The grassland habitats are presented by mesophyte communities of Festuca pratensis, Poa sylvicola, Alopecurus pratensis, Lolium perenne, Agrostis stolonifera, etc. (Bondev 1991).
Birds:
Maritsa-Purvomay supports 84 bird species, 22 of which are listed in the Red Data Book for Bulgaria (1985). Of the birds occurring there 38 species are of European conservation concern (SPEC) (BirdLife International, 2004), 3 of them being listed in category SPEC 1 as globally threatened, 13 in SPEC 2 and 22 in SPEC 3 as species threatened in Europe. The area provides suitable habitats for 29 species, included in Annex 2 of the Biodiversity Act, which need special conservation measures, of which 26 are listed also in Annex I of the Birds Directive. The region of the Maritsa near Parvomay is the site with the biggest Bulgarian breeding population of the Masked Shrike Lanius nubicus. It is also a site of European Union importance for the Levant Sparrowhawk Accipiter brevipes. The European Roller Coracias garrulus and the White Stork Ciconia ciconia occur there with representative breeding populations. During the winter the Great White Egret Egretta alba regularly occurs along the Maritsa River stream and the Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus stay in the fields around the river.
Threats:
The area of Maritsa-Parvomay is situated close to a densely populated town with developed industrial area – the town of Parvomay. It is influenced by the high pressure of the continuing urbanization of the area, as well as intensive human activities. Illegal waste deposits are spread through the whole area, particularly along the roads. The area is also sensitive to the human activities related mainly to agriculture, forestry and water management. Amongst the most serious impacts related to agriculture is the removal of the natural vegetation and conversion of grasslands and shrub dominated habitats into arable land, as well as the large-scale use of pesticides and fertilizers. Grazing is carried out on the pastures close to the villages and those pastures often are overgrazed. Cutting of trees and shrubs along Maritsa River, afforestation with non-indigenous species, as well as expansion of the sand and gravel extraction cause deterioration and even loss of valuable habitats for breeding and roosting of birds, especially the Levant Sparrowhawk and the Great White Egret. The general threats to birds are the fragmentation, deterioration and change of valuable habitats.
Legal protection:
There are two protected areas in the borders of the site both covering less than 1% of the territory. They are designated in 1970 and 2003 to protect a natural snowdrop habitat and typical riverine forest. Another part of the site is under procedure for designation of protected area for protection of snowdrop. In 1998 a CORINE Site was appointed because of its European value for rare and threatened habitats, plant and animal species. It covers 5% of the area. In 2005 Maritsa Parvomay was designated also as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
