The eighth meeting of the Atanasovsko Lake Public Council was held on 2 November 2016 to discuss the various challenges related to the Protected Areas regime. One of the reasons is the case with the failure to reflect the boundaries of Protected Site "Bourgas Solnitsi" in the Hunting Development Plan of State Forestry Burgas, which makes it difficult to implement the PA order and accordingly to organise the hunting practices by the hunters who use the surrounding terrain. We hope the constructive dialogue between the institutions will soon lead to the final resolution of the case. The updated Management Plan for Atanasovsko Reserve is due to be adopted, which should reflect the input of stakeholders.
Mr. Rumen Zhelev, Member of the Parliament, who is well acquainted with the hunting issues and the problems of the protected areas in the region of Burgas took part in the meeting and also took up the issue with the coverage of the boundaries of the protected areas.
A brief presentation of the current state of Atanasovsko lake made Diyana Kostovska, head of the Salt of Life project, BBF - "This summer we have a very successful breeding season, due to the complex conservation activities - improvement of the ecological condition, hydrobiological conditions, chemical conditions, resistance to water regime. We have established a record number of nesting terns, as well as a very high swallow, swallow, whip and white-fronted tern."
12 km of the canal is cleaned, 2 wooden nesting platforms, the Salt Festival and many other interesting communication activities are organised. The Educational Program is being actively carried out to acquaint the students with the natural resources of Atanasovsko Lake in the open air in the nature and within the city along the Avocet and Salt Trails. But unfortunately, after the last meeting of the council at the end of June, the Avocet Trail was opened, vandalism did not spare the attractive signs. Three out of ten plates are firmly cracked, and one is completely destroyed. Two other plates have served as targets, and the balls are still deeply buried in the wooden bases of the plates.
After having been locked up by cars on the Trail, citizens looking for privacy have been largely restricted, who now stay in the parking lot or on foot to reach and benefit from the knit observatory. The BBF team is required every time before meeting a group of children to clean the used condoms and packs so that the topic of breeding birds with human fertilization is not displaced.
An unknown perpetrator ignited the area to the Avocet Trail, causing burning of much of the vegetation, and the lake's entry plate had to be cut off by the firefighters in order for the specialized equipment to pass.
"We at BBF know how much effort, resources and time it takes to make something useful for the public benefit, because we have been doing this since we were established (1994), but we are not ready to lightly accept the destruction of our labor, the inexhaustible spending of public funds (in our case provided by the LIFE + Program of the European Commission) and the deletion of the work of dozens of volunteers who cleaned, groomed and maintained the Trail ", Radostina Tzenova from the Biodiversity Foundation said. - "If you witness violations in the Atanasovsko Lake area and if you care, be active and alert to 112 or to us from" Salt of Life".
The tradition of gathering in a new space for Bourgas was preserved and this time the meeting was held in the Chamalogika community center. Representatives of the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Waters, Municipality of Burgas, BAS, Burgas Airport, MES Regional Inspectorate, Black Sea Salinas, BSPB and others participated. The public council is also open to citizens who are seriously interested in Atanasovsko Lake.
