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Conservation of Globally Significant Biodiversity in the Landscape of Bulgaria’S Rhodope Mountains

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Conservation of Globally Significant Biodiversity in the Landscape of Bulgaria’S Rhodope Mountains Conservation of Globally Significant Biodiversity in the Landscape of Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains Geographic scale National Silva Mediterranea countries Bulgaria Other countries No Key words Biodiversity; Protected areas Institutional framework and policies; Type of project Capacity building Approval year 2004 Duration 5 years Status Closed and mid term evaluation available Total amount US$ 18,201,706 GEF/UNDP; UNDP; Government; Swiss Funding source Government Kind of financing source Grant; In-kind Executing agencies Ministry of Agriculture and Forests Target beneficiaries Government; Local communities; NGOs Relevance for forests High Conservation of Globally Significant Biodiversity in the Landscape of Bulgaria’s Rhodope Mountains Brief description of the project Context As a transition zone between the Balkans and the Mediterranean Basin, Bulgaria is rich in biodiversity. Its most biologically diverse area is the Rhodope Mountain region, which forms part of the Palearctic Mediterranean shrubland and woodland eco-region. Indeed, this area represents one of the only five examples of the Mediterranean shrubland and woodland in the world that, taken together, are home to 20% of the Earth’s plant species. The Rhodope Mountains also fall within the Palearctic temperate coniferous forests eco-region of the “Global 200”, forming the south-eastern limit of the European-Mediterranean montane mixed forests and the western limits of the Caucasus-Anatolian-Hyrcanian temperate forests. The Rhodope Mountains are divided into two distinct sub-regions differentiated by climatic and landscape characteristics: the Western Rhodope (WR) and the Eastern Rhodope (ER). The former is largely forested, with over 70% coverage of mostly coniferous species with high mountain meadows and pasturelands occupying the remaining 30%. On the contrary, only one-third of the Eastern region is forested, primarily by deciduous forest; half of this is in plantation forestry. Objectives and main results The overall objective of the UNDP/GEF Rhodope Project was to protect globally significant biodiversity and to promote its sustainable use in the Rhodope region. In particular the project aimed at conserving the unique natural and anthropogenic mosaic of habitats, species and land uses that form the Eastern and Western Rhodope landscapes. The project pursued two immediate objectives: 1. Landscape-scale conservation effectively operationalised in Eastern and Western Rhodope Landscape Nature Parks; 2. The integration of biodiversity into resource management and economic development policy and practice. According to the 2006-2008 mid term evaluation (MTE) key project achievements include: 1. Creation of a first-class geographical information system and its public availability; 2. Massively increased baseline biodiversity data on the Rhodope Mountains arising from the implementation of large-scale surveys; 3. Establishment of 27 Municipal Focus Groups involving all sectors and interests that form a platform for increased integration of biodiversity into Municipal and sectoral planning; 4. Extensive capacity-building of local people (e.g. in community wildlife conservation, participatory management, organic agriculture, local breeds, tourism management); 5. Pilot FSC certification of state and private-sector forests leading to likely large-scale replication by the State Forestry Agency at a national level; 6. Development of local voluntary-based biodiversity monitoring; 7. Heightened public awareness of biodiversity conservation issues; The main reservations raised by the MTE are: 1. The absence of the two Nature Parks. Furthermore the Project has a collective Protected Area mindset that, in trying to compensate for the absence of the promised Nature Parks, is in conflict with its mainstreaming focus; 2. The capacity, focus, involvement and sustainability vision of the Municipal Focus Groups requires greater support if they are to have the long-term, post-Project role and influence that is hoped for; 3. Direct and indirect links between globally-significant biodiversity conservation and the other elements of the Project have not been made sufficiently. Description of the project and main components/phases Activities were focused on areas with sensitive ecosystems and landscape components, such as priority conservation areas, buffer zones and corridors, as well as more general forest, pasture and agricultural lands. The project consisted of eight components to pursue both the first immediate objective (1-4) and the second one (5-8): 1. Establishment of the Eastern and Western Rhodope Nature Parks with an operational collaborative management structure. This entailed public consultations on Nature Park designation and management, the inclusion of the two Park under IUCN’s Category V “protected landscape”, collaboration among sectoral agencies and new policies and programmes affecting biodiversity; 2. Establishment of an information baseline as basis for adaptive management; 3. Establishment of landscape-based approach to conservation; 4. Definition of priority conservation areas and sustainable management regimes piloted within each Nature Park. This required the development of simple and practical management plans and participatory management agreements for each priority area; 5. Monitoring/evaluation applied as tool for capacity building of stakeholders; 6. Strengthening institutional capacity to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem management objective into productive sector programmes; 7. Re-orientation of forestry, tourism, and farming practices to support conservation while improving livelihoods; that included activities to align municipality and private sector development priorities with landscape-conservation priorities, demonstrate model sustainable forestry, model sustainable agriculture initiatives and model sustainable tourism initiatives under existing funding programs; 8. Secured financing for sustainability of applied conservation and cross-sectoral coordination. This component included activities to finalise and approve plan for achieving sustainability for Nature Park operations and livelihood development, also in relation with the EU Common Agricultural Policy. Specific fiscal and policy incentives for resource users and managers (farmers, foresters, tourism operators, municipalities) were also to be developed. The MTE found that the objectives of these components were mainly reached in a satisfactory or marginally satisfactory way, but the two Nature Parks were not established. The project activities started in July 2004 and were closed at the end of April 2009. Institutional framework The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MAF) was the project’s Executing Agency and appointed a Ministry official to act as National Project Director (NPD). The NPD reported to the Minister and oversaw the project on behalf of the Executing Agency. A Project Management Unit was in charge of project activities. It interacted with two Regional Support Centres (RSCs), one in Eastern and one in Western Rhodope, responsible for implementation of the project activities at the local level. A Project Steering Committee (SC) was the inter-institutional strategic decision-making body for the project. It consisted of the following officials or their authorised representatives: 1. The Minister of Agriculture and Forests 2. The Minister of Environment and Water 3. The Heads of the Eastern and Western Rhodope Nature Park Directorates 4. Regional Forestry Board 5. The Rhodope Tourism Association 6. The Bulgarian Forest Certification Association 7. The Bioselena Foundation for Organic Farming 8. The East Aegean Sea River Basin Directorate 9. Rhodope Water Users Association 10. UNDP Resident Coordinator The Minister of Regional Development, the Minister of Economy, the Executive Directors of the Eastern and Western Rhodope Municipal Associations, the National GEF Focal Point, the World Bank Forestry Project were invited and encouraged to be observers at SC meetings. A Project Management Committee (PMC) was established to oversee the project at the operational level. Project financing The total cost of the project amounted to $ 18,201,706 and was funded by multiple backers. For the Bulgarian Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests provided $ 11,276,750 and the Ministry of Environment and Waters other $ 970,000. The UNDP/GEF managed funds covered $ 3,809, 460, of which $ 3,545,460 as project grant and the remainder to finance the cost of the project preparation. The UNDP provided $ 2,336,496 as well as the Swiss Government $73,000. Other information on the project Other information or documents on this project are available at the GEF database, the UNDP- Bulgaria website, the UNDP website (with the mid term evaluation) and the project official website. .
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