At the end of November, together with colleagues from the forestry and conservation team of WWF Bulgaria, we visited the Eastern Rhodopes region, where we held a working meeting with representatives of Rewilding Rhodopes. Together we discussed topics of interest for both organizations and potential opportunities for future cooperation. Of particular interest was the work on adaptation of forests to climate changes and the planned thinning in forest plantations of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra.
Both in the project territory of the project “Climate-Smart Forest Management for Central and Eastern Europe” and in the Eastern Rhodopes, coniferous forests were planted in the 1950s on unsuitable habitats and in recent years have been attacked by various pathogens. This causes the plantations to dry out and leads to the conclusion that they must be urgently transformed into forests of a more natural origin. We also discussed the need to include climate-smart measures in the planning documents of the Forest Management Units.
Another topic we addressed was the importance of biodiversity for maintaining and restoring habitats. On the second day, we visited the Studen Kladenets management unit, where Rewilding Rhodopes reintroduce large mammals such as Red deer (Cervus elaphus L.), European bison (Bison bonasus) and Polish konik (Equus ferus caballus).
The trip was organized under the project ” Climate-Smart Forest Management for Central and Eastern Europe” “, co-financed by the LIFE program of the EU.
