Área: 143733,01 ха
Propiedad: state - 76%; municipality - 8%; private - 16%;
Descripción:
Rila is located in Southwestern Bulgaria, at about 70 km from Sofia. The site includes more than 50% of Rila Mountain. It covers the Rila National Park and Rila Monastery Nature Park. In geological respect Rila does not feature great diversity of rock complexes. Most of them are old metamorphic intrusive southern Bulgarian granites. In the peripheral and lower parts of the mountain there are also sediments – Palaeogenic, Pliocene and Quaternary deposits. The soils are mostly brown forest, mountain forest and mountain meadow ones with poor humus horizon. On the territory of the Rila there are about 140 glacial lakes and several reservoirs. The site includes the springs of the Iskar, Maritsa and Mesta rivers. A considerable part of the national water resource is formed there. Rila Mountain is covered mainly by forests (46%) and high mountain habitats (51%). About 90% of the ecosystems presented in the region are natural. 1400 species of vascular plants occur in Rila. The Alpine belt is presented by variety of grassland vegetation communities. The Sub-Alpine belt is also completely developed, with wide distribution of the formations of Pinus mugo, Juniperus communis nana, Vaccinium myrtillus and Nardus stricta. The meadows there have mainly secondary origin. The coniferous forest belt is represented by the formations of Picea abies, Pinus peuce, Pinus sylvestris and Abies alba. The broadleaved forests are dominated by the beech Fagus sylvatica. There are also mixed P. abies – F. sylvatica and A. alba – F. sylvatica forests.
Aves:
Rila is representative site for a complex of birds typical for high mountain grasslands and old coniferous and broadleaved forests. It supports 130 breeding bird species, 20 of which are listed in the Red Data Book for Bulgaria (1985). Of the birds occurring there 41 species are of European conservation concern (SPEC) (BirdLife International, 2004), 1 of them being listed in category SPEC 1 as globally threatened, 14 in SPEC 2 and 26 in SPEC 3 as species threatened in Europe. The site provides suitable habitats for 23 species, included in Annex 2 of the Biodiversity Act, which need special conservation measures, of which 20 are listed also in Annex I of the Birds Directive. Rila is of global importance as a representative area for the Alpine biome, because three biome-restricted bird species, typical for that biome, out of four recorded for Bulgaria occur there – Wallcreeper Tichodroma muraria, Yellow-billed (Alpine) Chough Pyrrhocorax graculus and Alpine Accentor Prunella collaris. Alpine Accentor is represented here by the endemic subspecies P. c. subalpina. The biggest breeding populations of the Pygmy Owl Glaucidium passerinum, the Tengmalm`s Owl Aegolius funereus and the Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus in Bulgaria occur there. It is among the most valuable areas in the country on the level of European Union for the conservation of these species, as well as for the Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos, Capercaillie Tetrao urogallus, Peregrine Falco peregrinus, Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius, White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos, European Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus and Hazel Grouse Bonasa bonasia. The area is also important on a European scale for the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush Monticola saxatilis, European Robin Erithacus rubecula, the Common Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla, Ring Ouzel Turdus torquatus, Song Thrush Turdus philomelos, Common Blackbird Turdus merula, Goldcrest Regulus regulus, Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and Linnet Carduelis cannabina.
Amenazas:
The habitats of Rila mountain are sensitive to the activities related to forestry, tourism development and water management. The forest habitats are highly affected by the intensive forestry outside the Rila National park, as well as by intenional burning of forests. A system of tunnels is constructed through the mountain for transfer of water from one catchment area to another. The water up to 2000 m altitude is catched almost entirely by the system and it has negative impact on the forest ecosystems. Human influence and pressure in the high mountain meadows include tourism and harvesting of medicinal plants and herbs. Stopping the grazing of grasslands in the Sub-Alpine zone cause succession of shrubs and coniferous forests there. Big investment projects for building of ski resorts and supporting facilities threaten complete destruction both of forest and grassland habitats. Direct threats to birds are caused by poaching (taking chicks and eggs from the nests, shooting of raptors and owls, as well as Hazel Grouse and Capercaillie), walking outside the marked paths, rock climbing, gliding, hang-gliding and off road traffic of motor vehicles, etc.
La protección legal:
So far 75% of the site is under legal protection according to Bulgarian nature conservation legislation. The biggest national park in Bulgaria, with a total area of 81,046 ha and reserve territory of 19,898.7 ha, is located in the Rila mountain. The Rila National Park includes 60 habitat types according to the CORINE classification. Twenty nine of them have high conservation value and are included in the list of threatened habitats, requiring special conservation measures according to the Habitats Directive of the EU and the subsequent Resolution 4. The “Rilski Manastir” Nature park was separated from the territory of the former Rila National park (with a territory of 107,923 ha) in 1998, but still has a strong protection regime as a national park, according to the existing management plan. The “Rila” National Park and the “Rilski Manastir” Nature Park include 5 reserves (IUCN Category I) – “Central Rilski”, “Ibar”, “Rilomanastirska Gora”, Parangalitsa” and “Skakavitsa”. The “Central Rilski” Reserve and the “Parangalitsa” Reserve” are designated as Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO in 1977. There are two more protected areas – “Chernata skala” Natural monument” and the “Plenstitsa” Protected Area - with relatively small territories. Rila mountain was appointed as CORINE Site in 1998 because of its European value for rare and threatened habitats, plant and animal species, including birds. In 2005 it was designated also as Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
