The project aims at measures against the conversion of the land in waste and bush areas and against the erosion by means of sustainable management of uncultivated municipal and private territories, belonging to the protected area ?NOEVTZI?, within the European Ecological Network NATURE 2000. Various protected plant and animal species are available in this area. The two types - Landrail (Crex crex) and Red-backed Shrike (Lanius collurio) are well known by the local population. ?he territories in this area situated in the plain and in the high mountain area are low-yield fields and pastures abounding with bushes, resulting in loss of the biodiversity of the grass lands. The land has been abandoned, overgrown with perennial shrubs with rare grass varieties, made of wild grasses without any zoo-technical nutritive value. Therefore the areas are unusable neither for grazing, nor for feeding ruminant animals.
In the end of last summer in the vicinity of the "Three Pine Trees" Farm a
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farmer noticed a small animal, resembling the small rodent European Hamster which extinct within the region of Pernik. The hamster is listed in the Bulgarian Red Book and its preservation is subject to special measures.
The farm owner is convinced that the come back of this animal is thanks to the clearing and grazing the pastures.
In view of the abore some experts like Mr. S. Avramov from Biodiversity Foundation and the fauna expert Mr. Arangelov from the Vitosha Nature Park recommend the measures to be applied on a larger pasture around the farm in order to increase the population of the specie and to conserve it.
The areas in this zone are situated in the lowland and in the highlands, being low-productive fields and pastures and meadows abundant with bushes. The land is waste, grown with perennial bushes and rare grass species without any zoo-technical nutritive value. They are subject to heavy erosion by wind and water. Thus the areas are not accessible for pasture and feeding the ruminants.
The detailed soil, climatic and landscape studies have shown that the areas represent the highly eroded maroon soils in the region. Pursuant to the Bulgarian Bonity Evaluation Scale such lands could be used only for pastures and meadows. The region falls within the category of the poor less favorite regions. The inhabitants tend to migrate to the nearby urban centers such as ? Sofia, Pernik, Kyustendil. The local traditions and lifestyle are fading away. The population is no more engaged in traditional activities, such as the traditional agriculture ? livestock breeding, making use of pastures and meadows. According to official statistic information, the smallest number of agricultural producers is registered in this region. The few farmers, still living in the region work under extremely hard socio-economic conditions ? they are exposed to the risk to abandon their traditional activities.
The objective of the project is to achieve sustainable use of 41 hectares abandoned municipal pastures, meadows and low-productive fields /registered only as a category, being in reality unusable bush lands /, by restoration and long-term conservation of biodiversity and enlargement of the share of the areas suitable for farming. Anti-erosion measures should be taken to combat erosion. The local residents and farmers should be made aware of the importance of the biodiversity protection saving the soil fertility. The harmful farming practices should be eliminated.
The project targets should revive the traditional loc?l lifestyle.
It could be achieved by applying traditional methods of land cultivation ? elimination of shrubs and harmful vegetation each year, sanitary mowing, seasonal grazing and increasing the share of the meadows and pastures by means of transforming the low-productive fields into meadows and pastures where the livestock can graze with pleasure.
The region where the project would be implemented has no project-implementation traditions by civil organization. The larger eco-organizations, such as Bioselena, the Bulgarian Bird Protection Society, etc implement their projects in other regions. Therefore the association ?Lifestyle with traditions and future" was established, in order to fight for settling such problems in the NOEVTZI Protected Area. ?he project is unique. Its success is very important in order to reduce the uncultivated municipal and private areas. The unemployed people will be promoted to continue this traditional occupation, which has been forgotten in the Breznik area. The Project Idea will be carried out by two agricultural producers ? livestock breeders.
They have been supported by the municipal council of the City of Breznik. They have signed a 10-years contract for the use of the land in order to implement the project.
The results are disseminated by means of presentations before various target groups ? local/municipal administration, agricultural producers, young people in the region and the students from the Technical of Forestry in Sofia, etc.
Promotion of the project results.
The project results will be presented to various target groups ? local / municipal authorities, agricultural producers, the young people in the region, etc.
The project implementation will contribute to:
- avoiding the soil restructuring and erosion in the target areas, that have not been cultivated for more than 20 years.
- stopping the development of bushes. Resulting in subcession
- improving the sustainability of the protected area by means of application of traditional environmentally ? friendly methods.
- the student campus of the Forestry Technical University will be provided.
- increasing the public awareness about the sustainable agricultural practices and the importance of the measures against erosion and the maintenance of soil fertility.
The biodiversity will be integrated with the sustainable use of the target uncultivated municipal areas. This is the contribution of the project for the realization of some of the objectives of the Global Environmental Facility.
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