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E www.futureforest.eu Good Practice Guide L A W I

A I K A V O L S I

A I V T A L

I Forestry’s role in

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N water management O L A

T and erosion control A C I

A I R A G L U B I

G R U B N E D N A R B I

E N G R E V

U Bulgaria and Soil Erosion A Forestry’s role in water management and erosion control

Upland erosion

Background obstruct water flows, stone thresholds, wattles, walls, Facing the negative impact of climate change, bunds, etc. costing €8,814,880. For the same period of countries across Europe recognise the importance of time, 1661,93 ha were afforestated and reforestated, implementing the requirements of the EU and the valued at €7,582,567. international documents such as the UN Convention to combat desertification. There are indicators showing Using river dams to control erosion that because of poor management and climate The most vivid example of overcoming erosion is the change, soil erosion is still a major issue in some basin of the Iskar Dam the area of which is 90 000 ha. Southern EU regions. The climate and topography in The full capacity of the reservoir is 673 million m 3 - the the regions exacerbate this process. There is a variety biggest in Bulgaria. Its main purpose is to provide of vast valleys and low lands, hills and mountains with water for drinking and living needs of the capital city. soils vulnerable to erosion and heavy rains. The need for urgent intervention came from the General Overview expected annual deposition of about 1 million m 3 of Forest vegetation has proved to be irreplaceable in the sediments. This was expected to come from the 6500 system of erosion control having positive effect on ha of bare, eroding land and 18,300 ha of disturbed water regulation and soil protection. Strengthening forests. and stabilisation measures for erosion control usually are conducted across the whole catchment. Twenty per cent of the river catchments in Bulgaria are prone to severe soil erosion. They are defined as flood watercourses and for each there are technical projects or programs to combat erosion.

In Catalonia the situation is similar but the criteria used to decide if water management projects are necessary are different. Soil losses are estimated with USLE/RUSLE equations, and the threshold for implementation is set at 12 t/ha/year.

Iskar Dam The basic element of anti-erosion activities are tree planting and the building of engineering facilities – Due to afforestation, erosion in the catchment is very barrages, thresholds, wattles, etc. In the last decades in limited at present. Over 19,700 ha were forested. The Bulgaria the following water engineering facilities: 617 total water engineering facilities built over the whole 000 m 3 barrages and thresholds; 395 000 m 3 small project period were : check dams and thresholds, stone thresholds; 597 000 m 2 wattles; 428 000 m bank 11,300 m 3; small stone thresholds, 3,000 m 3; wattles, low wattles and others were built. Afforestation was 25,000 m 3 and bank low wattles, 20,000 m. carried out on 194,000 ha - 40 % of them with anti- As a result of the anti-erosion operations carried out, erosion being the sole purpose. the main annual deposition of sediments in the reservoir was one fifth of the expected amount. Thus In Catalonia, between 2005-2009, 40,000 m 3 of works the expected life of the dam was increased by two to fight against erosion were done, such as: dams to centuries.

2 The total afforested area is 150 ha. There are 7 Torrent Management barrages with a volume of 1,625 m 3, 11,000 m 3 of Case Study – Bulgaria stone thresholds, 4,000 m wattles, 2,000 m thresholds and gabions - 100 m 3. Typical torrent catchments managed with complex treatment are situated in Regional forest directorate Kardzhali in South-East Bulgaria.

“Ustrenski dol” catchment

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“Kazashki dol” catchment Catchment with an area of 667 ha. Afforestation was Ustrenski dol carried out from 1960 to 1991. After a fire in 2001 an area of 600 ha was burnt, this area was reforested in 2002. There are 6 barrages, which were built from A small catchment prone to strong torrential water 1959 to 2004, with a total volume of 3700 m 3. flows. About 70% of the area is made up of slopes over 50%. In some sections along the banks the slope Bulgaria’s first reinforced concrete barrage is one of exceeds 75%, which makes the natural establishment those six. At the upper part of “Kazashki dol” were of even grass vegetation impossible. built check dam of gabion units and many stone thresholds (pic. 4, pic. 5 and pic. 6) with a total In order to minimise the potential impact of extreme volume of 3100 m 3. erosion events, afforestation in the upper part of the catchment has been combined with the construction of an efficient stabilisation system. Almost all anti- erosion operations were completed in less than 10 years.

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3 Future Activities Water Control Measures in With current climate change predictions and despite Catalonia all the achievements in complex catchment management in the forest territories, more erosion Case Study – Catalonia control work is needed. There are still catchments experiencing torrential water flows and endangering The project was conducted during 2009 and 2010 in settlements and the infrastructure. the municipalities of Meranges and Girult (La To mitigate this negative impact and to protect the , Catalonia). The main objective was soils and forests future activities have to be directed in protection of people, material goods and the following territories: infrastructure. • Bare and abandoned land with 6 º slope experiencing erosion; The different works consisted of the construction of • low density forests; several consolidation dams and improvement of the • forests destroyed by forest fires, windfalls, torrent stream beds to avoid flooding after intense rain anthropogenic factor and others; episodes and afforestation of more than 9 ha in the • poor condition shelterbelts in Bulgaria; surrounding area. • forests with protective functions and water source areas. Afforestation will facilitate the development of vegetation cover that will fix the soil and will also Erosion control in the future can be delivered using reduce erosion and denudation processes. biological measures such as afforestation, building technical hard engineering, protection from forest fires and stopping illegal timber harvesting.

To enable the forests to both adapt and mitigate climate change, additional measures should be implemented to improve erosion control and increase its effectiveness: • Restoration of old, and creation of new, technical projects for erosion control; • continuing state financing of activities related to erosion control and landslides; • ongoing education for state forest services personnel working in erosion control; • financing research in erosion control and international cooperation in the field of erosion control. Consolidation dams

Contact Details Executive Forest Agency 55 “Hristo Botev” blvd. 1040 Sofia, Bulgaria Mr. Nikolay Vasilev Chief Expert “Forest Policy, Programs and Projects” e-mail: [email protected] phone: 00359 2 985 11 525

Generalitat de Catalunya Department of Environment and Housing Mr. Xavier Clopés Alemany Head of Forest Management Service e-mail: [email protected] phone: 0034 935674200

Afforestation

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