Bulgaria Poachers, Severe Weather Threaten Rare Geese

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Interview with Nada Tosheva, Executive Director of BSPB.

SOFIA, BG: 03 NOV 2009 - The Executive Director at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), Nada Tosheva, has stated Tuesday that the Bulgaria government should reconsider the construction of wind farms on the Black Sea coast. READ

As of 26 June 2009, The US Internal Revenue Service bestows Friends of Bulgarian Society of Protection of Birds Public Charity Status under 170(b) (1) (A) (vi).

JENKINTOWN, PA : 11 OCT 2009 - Friends of BSPB is now qualified to receive tax deductable bequests, devices, transferees of Gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the US IRS Tax Code. All Contributions received by Friends of BSPB are deductable under section 170 of the IRS Code. Overages on any of Fund Raising Trip will also be deductable.

Princess presents top conservation accolade to Bulgaria’s Emil Todorov - news from the Whitley Fund for Nature

LONDON, UK: 13 MAY 2009 - HRH The Princess Royal (Princess Anne) tonight presented one of the world’s top prizes for grassroots nature conservation – a Whitley Award – to Emil Todorov of Bulgaria (BSPB), for his work with communities along the lower reaches of Europe’s longest river, the Danube, safeguarding many thousands of migratory and breeding birds.

Emil Todorov, the Svishtov-based regional co-ordinator of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, received his honour during a ceremony held at the Royal Geographical Society, London, and hosted by The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) – the UK-based charity which administers the international awards programme.

His prize includes a Whitley Award project grant of £30,000 - donated by Paula and Mario Frering - an engraved trophy, membership of an influential network of Whitley Award winners and opportunities to apply for WFN Continuation Funding,.

The award recognises Mr Todorov’s efforts to create new nature sanctuaries, and win better protection, for the vast flocks of birds, which use the Danube and its wetlands as a breeding ground and migration highway.

Brussels grants Bulgaria 2 million euros for bird protection

Recently the project “Protection of the Imperial Eagle and the Saker Falcon and their habitats” of the Bulgarian Bird Protection Society /BBPS/ has received financing from the EU amounting to 2 million euros. This is the only Bulgarian project out of the total of 143 launched in 2008 under the EU's “Life+” program. Work on the project will start in 2009 and will continue until 2013.  Most people would say – we need money while you are spending it on birds,” says Dr. Petar Yankov from the BBPS. I think there are enough funding provided for Bulgaria and for people. Our aim is to work for biological diversity for the sake of mankind, of course. The project is one of the largest scale projects for the preservation of biological diversity in Bulgaria so far. The project has been worked out by the Bulgarian Bird Protection Society and the Royal Society for Bird Protection in the UK. However, it would have been impossible without the partnership of the “Central Balkan” National Park, the Wild Flora and Fauna Fund and Bird life International in the face of our colleagues from Hungary. We have been working together for more than 10 years on various projects for bird protection. The Hungarian experience in the protection of the Saker Falcon and the Imperial Eagle would be applied in this project.”

YOUR HELP IS NEEDED

With the elimination of 37 registered IBA's along the Black Sea coast and vital Imperial Habitat in Sakar, we need you help in raising funds to FIGHT to get these places listed and protected in Bulgaria. By becoming a member of the BSPB, you will help in that effort.  Your Tax Deductable Membership is $100.00USD/year. You will receive a BSPB T-Shirt as well as discounted trips organized by the Friends of the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds. You can securely donate by clicking the link below. Other ways you can help! You can also help by making sure when you are birding with an organized group, that your group has been sanctioned by the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds. You can contact us to confirm. Alternatively, we can arrange your up-coming birding trip to Bulgaria. As we are an all-volunteer organization, 100% of all funds from these trips go towards conservation efforts in Bulgaria. For additional information on how you can help, please email us at email or, alternatively, call us toll-free at 866.204.6183. Follow us on   and on

Photo by Earl Harrison.

Bucks County Birders donated $150.00 towards IMPERIAL EAGLE Conservation

Important Bird Areas in Bulgaria

Each Month we will list eight Bulgarian Important Bird Areas:

Facts about the Bulgarian 114 IBAs:

• All the European White Pelicans, almost all (over 70 %) of the world’s White Storks and over the half of the nesting in Europe Lesser Spotted Eagles are using the Via Pontica flyway following the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. On their journey they pass over 18 internationally important IBAs.

• 75% of the population of Red-breasted Goose spend the winter at two of the North Black Sea Coast IBAs – Shabla Lake Complex and Durankulak. Both of these zones were not included into the approved by the Council of Ministers NATURA 200 list.

• Nine of the Bulgarian IBAs hold 17% of the EU population of the Imperial Eagle. At present it looks like five of these zones will not receive the NATURA 2000 protection. Among them are Sakar and West Strandzha where almost all of the known nests in Bulgaria are situated.

• The situation with Semi-collared Flycatcher in the Balkan Mountain is similar - 61% of the EU population of the species is concentrated in ten of the IBAs there and six of these were not approved by the Council of Ministers. Kamchia Complex where the densest population of Semi-collared Flycatcher is based was left outside the official NATURA 2000 list.