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Abstract
Since the crumbling of its socialist dictatorship in 1989- 90, nature conservation efforts in Bulgaria have accelerated. New parks have been established, protected area management plans are being developed, and legislation has been passed standardizing protected area categories. Yet this small and relatively biodiversity-rich country in southeastern Europe has faced many challenges in the postsocialist era as it has sought to protect its wildlands. The postsocialist restitutions of forests and agricultural land to former owners have affected land ownership in some areas identified or designated for protection. Western countries have provided financial and technical assistance to postsocialist conservation efforts, yet these efforts have been hampered by Bulgaria’s difficult financial situation as well as relatively limited development of a protected area management network at the start of the period. The example of postsocialist conservation efforts in the Rhodope Mountains illustrates these challenges.
Parent Publication
Keywords
wilderness,
biodiversity,
protected areas,
economics,
subsistence,
tourism,
traditional knowledge,
community involvement,
policy,
stewardship,
education,
spiritual values
Citation
Cellarius, Barbara A. 2007. Challenges of nature conservation in postsocialist Bulgaria: A view from the Rhodope Mountains. In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet; Dean, Liese, comps. Science and stewardship to protect and sustain wilderness values: Eighth World Wilderness Congress symposium; September 30-October 6, 2005; Anchorage, AK. Proceedings RMRS-P-49. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 258-266
