Área: 115417,34 ха
Propiedad: state - 69%; municipality - 18%; private - 13%;
Descripción:
The site covers parts of the Strandzha mountain massif, located in the most south-eastern end of Bulgaria. To the south and south-west it follows the state border with Turkey and to the east the Black Sea coast between Tsarevo and Rezovo. To the north the area follows the Bosna ridge, which is the main watershed between the Veleka and the rivers Ropotamo, Fakiiska, Izvorska, Djavolska and Karaagach. The main river flowing through the area is the Veleka and its tributaries. The border river Rezovska passes through a smaller part of the territory. The Veleka river valley is surrounded by low mountain hills, covered mainly by old forests. The region is sparsely populated and comparatively weakly influenced by human presence. The Strandzha is characterized with great diversity of habitats, the dominating one being the broadleaved deciduous forest with undergrowth of evegreen shrubs and Mediterranean species. The higher parts are covered with oak forests Quercus polycarpa, Q. frainetto, Q. cerris, at places mixed with Oriental Beech and other tree species. The natural forests of Fagus orientalis with rich undergrowth of evergreen shrubs occupy the ravines and the slope declinations. The undergrowth of the oak and beech forests include some Tertiary relict species, like Rhododendron ponticum, Vaccinium arctostaphylos, Daphne pontica, Mespilus germanica, etc. The open terrain is covered by mesothermal grasslands, pastures, forest meadows and clearings, mixed with steppe plant associations of Lolium perenne, Cynоsurus cristatus, Poa sylvicola, with considerable participation of annual bean and cereal grasses of Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean type. The abandoned arable land covers big part of the open terrain.The river valleys are overgrown with riverine shrubs and woodlands, composed mainly of Salix alba, S. triandra and Alnus glutinosa and periodically flooded sections with hygrophyte and hydrophyte vegetation. The riverine forests of longoze type, dominated by Fraxinus oxycarpa, are quite typical for the mouths of the Veleka and the Rezovska rivers. The relative share of the coastal cliffs and sand beaches with psamophyte vegetation, as well as that of the farmlands, is comparatively small (Bondev 1991; Georgiev 1993; Yankov 1993).
Aves:
The territory the Strandzha supports 260 bird species, 75 of which are listed in the Red Data Book for Bulgaria (1985). Of the birds occurring there 112 species are of European conservation concern (SPEC) (BirdLife International, 2004), 12 of them being listed in category SPEC 1 as globally threatened, 29 in SPEC 2 and 71 in SPEC 3 as species threatened in Europe. The area provides suitable habitats for 96 species, included in Annex 2 of the Biodiversity Act, which need special conservation measures measures. They are listed also in Annex I of the Birds Directive. The Strandzha is one of the most important sites in Bulgaria on a European Union scale for a complex of 15 threatened species - Black Stork Ciconia nigra, Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus, Short-toed Eagle Circaetus gallicus, Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina, Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus, Grey-headed Woodpecker Picus canus, Middle Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos medius, White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos, Woodlark Lullula arborea, Olive-tree Warbler Hippolais olivetorum, Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana, Semi-collared Flycatcher Ficedula semitorquata, Kingfisher Alcedo atthis, Spotted Crake Porzana porzana and for the Mediterranean Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan. On migration five globally threatened species occur in the region – Pygmy Cormorant Phalacrocorax pygmeus, Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus, Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca, Corncrake Crex crex and Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola. The lower stream of the Veleka is a bottleneck migration site for the soaring birds. Almost all the flyway population of storks and raptors on the coastal Via Pontica migration route passes the Strandzha Mountain, where raptors often overnight.
Amenazas:
Strandzha is relatively low populated area inland, but the coastal area becomes very urbanized in recent decade. The area is sensitive particularly to activities related to forest management, as well as general development of the area. The forest management, including also removal of dead semi-dead trees threes and intensive cutting decrease to a significant extend the the quality of forest habitats. In particular the development of new forest roads cause intensification of forestry and disturbance to birds in areas, which were untouched before. Coastal areas are subject to intensive urbanization because of the development of tourism. It causes deterioration and even loss of coastal habitats. Most of the farmland is abandoned and starts to overgown of ruderal vegetation and shrubs. A decrease in grazing following by succession of forests causes loss of grassland habitats for birds. A potential threat to the area is the reconstruction of pastures to arable lands. The dry grasslands are particularly vulnerable to fires both natural and artificial burning of pastures. The area is sensitive to human activities which cause disturbance to birds, especially to those which nest on the rocks – rock climbing, gliding, hang-gliding, illegal treasure hunting, tourism activities during the breeding season. Development of the infrastructure of the area is not ever considered with the ecological requirements of the protected ecosystems and could cause fragmentation and deterioration of valuable habitats. There are investment ideas for building reservoirs on Veleka River, which could cause significant impact on large parts of the Strandzha. Particularly dangerous for migrating birds are the plans for development of wind turbine farms. They will cause disturbed movement and fragmentation of the habitats used by migratory birds. They will be a barrier for thousands of migratory soaring birds and night migrants on their flyway to the south and north and will cause significant mortality of birds and further decline in their populations.
La protección legal:
The territory of Strandzha was designated in 1995 as Nature Park for the long-term protection of unique nature in the Veleka and Rezovska River catchments and for sustainable socio-economical development of the region. The Nature Park consists of 25 protected areas – 5 strict reserves with buffer zones, one maintained reserve, 12 protected areas and 7 natural monuments. The Strandzha Nature Park prepared a management plan in 2004, which is still not adopted by the Government. In 1997 the Nature Park was included in the CORINE Biotope Network because of its outstanding European value for the conservation of unique vegetation and flora and rich fauna with a lot of threatenes species, including birds. During the same year it is also designated as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
