On Thursday 21
June, the European Commission issued a final legal warning against the
Bulgarian Government over its failure to fully designate, protect, and prevent
deterioration of the Kaliakra Special Protection Area and Site of Community
Importance, required under the EU Birds and Habitats Directives.
This latest
action by the Commission is the result of a prolonged campaign by the Bulgarian
Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB; BirdLife in Bulgaria) since 2005, supported by BirdLife
Europe, for the full protection of the Kaliakra
Peninsula on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria.
he Kaliakra Peninsula is internationally important,
forming part of the wintering area for the globally endangered Red-breasted
Goose. It acts as a stopover for thousands of soaring birds such as white
storks on the ‘Via Pontica’ migration route between Africa, the Middle East and
Eastern Europe. Its habitats also include rare
Ponto-Sarmatic Steppe grasslands, which are a priority habitat under the
European Habitats Directive.
However, a large
part of the Important Bird Area has been excluded from designation on spurious
grounds, and many areas of the designated and undesignated parts of the site
have been damaged by inappropriate wind farm and housing development, reducing
at the same time the feeding areas available to the wintering geese,
potentially jeopardising their winter survival.
The Bulgarian
Government will now have an opportunity to react to the final warning.
However, if it fails to deal with the issues at hand (as it has for the
last seven years), then BirdLife Europe and BSPB (BirdLife in Bulgaria) fully
expect the Commission to refer the case to the European Court of Justice by the
end of the year.
BirdLife Europe
and BSPB welcome this strong action from the Commission and hope that the
Bulgarian government will finally get the message that it needs to take its
European responsibilities seriously: Kaliakra should be fully designated, these
damaging developments removed and the damage done to habitats rectified as soon
as possible. Also, the recent plans for more wind farms in key sites for
birds must be the subject of objective assessment and not developed.
Red-breasted Goose
The Red-breasted
Goose - Branta ruficollis - is a brightly marked, endangered species
which breeds in Arctic Siberia. Most winter along the northwestern shores of
the Black Sea in Bulgaria.
Description
With beautifully
defined blocks of colour, the red-breasted goose is one of the most attractive
goose species in the world, but also one of the rarest. The fore-neck, breast
and sides of the head are chestnut red bordered with white. The wings, back and
fore-belly are charcoal black, with a bright white stripe running down the side
to the white rear belly. The short neck and dark belly stand out in flight. Juveniles
are duller.
Call
Adults make
repeated ‘kik-yoik, kik-yik’ sounds in flight.
Food
They feed on
grasses, leaves and seeds.
Breeding
It
breeds in tundra or scrubby 'wooded' tundra, in close proximity to rivers and
gulleys. Females lay between
three and ten eggs in late June, which are incubated for about 25 days. The
chicks fledge at between five to six weeks.
Conservation Status – Endangered.
The Red-breasted
Goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of
African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. It was considered a
Vulnerable species by the IUCN. Over 80% of the population roost during the
winter at just five sites, with nearby feeding areas threatened by changes in
land use. In addition, there has been a strong decline in numbers in the last
decades. As it is not clear to what extent the known population fluctuates in
this species – as in other Arctic geese – and given the worsening outlook for
the species as a whole, the Red-breasted Goose was uplisted from a species of
Least Concern to Endangered status in the 2007. Hunting
pressure on waterfowl as a whole is substantial in Bulgaria
and Romania,
including illegal shooting of Red-breasted Geese.
Birdwatching
Ask Aves Birding Tours/Safaris/Adventures to
create a tour for you