State: PlovdivArea: 3672,41 ха
Ownership: state - 1%; municipality - 12%; private - 87%;
Description:
The Tsalapitsa rice-fields are located in the Upper Thracian Plain, between the village of Tsalapitsa and the town of Saedinenie. The site is split by the road connecting the two settlements. To the south it borders on Trakia Highway, to the east – on the railway Plovdiv – Saedinenie. The site’s western border coincides with that of the municipality and its northern one passes several kilometers south of the town of Saedinenie. It is a complex of flooded plots used for growing rice, surrounded by low dykes and canals, including the surrounding wet meadows. At certain places the canals are overgrown with reed Phragfmites australis and reed mace Typha sp.. The rice pans have different water level and create conditions for bird species that have narrowly specialized feeding routine.
Birds:
Forty-six bird species are established so far in the Tsalapitsa Rice-fields, 10 of which are listed in the Red Data Book for Bulgaria (1985). Of the birds occurring there 23 species are of European conservation concern (SPEC) (BirdLife International, 2004), 5 of them being listed in category SPEC 2 and 18 in SPEC 3 as species threatened in Europe. The area provides suitable habitats for 11 species, included in Annex 2 of the Biodiversity Act, which need special conservation measures, of which 9 are listed also in Annex I of the Birds Directive. The Tsalapitsa Rice-fields are one of the most important breeding sites of the Collared Pratincole Glareola pratincola in the Upper Thracian Plain and a concentration site for the Yellow-legged Gull Larus cachinans. It is also very important for a number of waterfowl species in the breeding season, during migration and partially – in winter.
Threats:
The Tsalapitsa rice-fields are situated in a densely populated area, heavily influenced by human activities and intensive land use. The main habitats of the area are created as a result of the human activities and their existence is highly dependent on the present land use, related to rice production. The area is vulnerable to the overall management of the present land use. Declining of the rice production lead to abandonment of the rise fields cause gradual loss of the suitable habitats for birds. On the other hand the intensification of the rise production through use of pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals change to water quality and chemistry and cause deterioration of the habitats. I addition to this the water used for rise production is taken by Topolnitsa reservoir and often is polluted by heavy metals. The burning of the existing reedbeds within the area, as well as the burning of harvested arable land leads to expansion of the fires to the valuable habitats. Cutting down of trees and bushes along the dykes limits the possibilities for birds to find suitable nesting grounds. Other threats present at site are the intensive collection of frogs and killing of amphibians through a dainage of the chanals, which cause of decreasing the food base for the many of the bird species. Because of the easy access to the area there is high disturbance to birds caused by illegal hunting on protected species, leisure fishing, traffic of motor vehicles and the ordinary management activities related to rice production. Domestic animals, mainly dogs and cats destroy the nests, eggs and chicks of the ground nesting birds.
Legal protection:
The area is not protected by the national nature conservation law. In 2005 it was designated also as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
