Completed

Life for the Burgas Lakes (LIFE08-NAT/BG/000277) was an EU LIFE+ Nature project aiming to secure the long-term conservation of five Annex I bird species and the sustainable management of their wetland habitats around Burgas, implemented in coordination with Burgas Municipality, Chernomorski Solnitsi (Black Sea Saltworks), the Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation and RSPB (2010–2014). Since then, complementary measures across the complex have consolidated and expanded results: at Poda (Ramsar), works in 2023 reopened the Komlushki canal, rehabilitated a dyke and installed water-level control; at Lake Vaya, the outlet canal to the Black Sea was rehabilitated in 2023 to increase hydraulic capacity, rebalance salinity and improve the water regime; at Atanasovsko Lake, the Salt of Life and Lagoon of Life projects (2012–2018; 2018–2024) restored dikes, cleaned saltwater channels and enhanced lagoon habitats, with Bulgaria’s first successful Greater Flamingo breeding recorded in 2024. Grid-related bird mortality is being addressed by the ongoing LIFE “Safe Grid for Burgas” (2021–2026). According to the project manager, most NWRM remain operational and continue to deliver benefits to birds, with natural transformations and targeted upgrades.

The project was implemented in 2009 by the Russenski Lom Nature Park Directorate, Club “Friends of Russenski Lom” and WWF, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, and was funded by WWF and the German Federal Ecological Foundation (DBU). Applying the principle “more space for the river – more safety for people”, it aimed to open sections of the dykes, allowing water to re-enter the floodplain, reducing road flooding risk, and restoring river–floodplain connectivity.
Since then, the intervention has been embedded in the park’s long-term management framework. In 2022, an updated 10-year Management Plan for the park was formally adopted, prepared under the Interreg V-A Romania–Bulgaria “GreenManagement” project. This plan integrates the earlier floodplain restoration into a wider strategy for Natura 2000 site conservation, hydromorphological monitoring, sustainable tourism, and cross-border cooperation. WWF has also reported complementary river restoration measures within the park, including barrier removals and the installation of a fish pass to improve longitudinal connectivity and support protected fish species. These actions consolidate the ecological and hydrological benefits initiated in 2009, now supported by structured governance, mapping tools, and systematic monitoring.

Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) implemented Bulgaria’s first constructed wetland in Vidrare (Pravets) to treat domestic wastewater from the St. Panteleimon home while building local capacity. The plant is a vertical subsurface-flow reed bed for ~80 PE, combining an 18 m³ two-chamber settling tank with intermittent pumping to a 266 m² planted sand filter split into two beds; treated effluent discharges to a nearby gully. Design: Otterwasser (DE) and Ecoproject (BG); works: Interstroy; funding: German Federal Environment Foundation (DBU). Construction ran Oct 2010–Apr 2011; the facility was officially inaugurated on 29 April 2011. O&M is handled by trained staff from the home; reported investment was about €45,000 (+≈10% for planning). The site has served as a national demonstration/education example and continues to be cited by Bulgarian authorities (e.g., Ramsar COP14 National Report, 2022).

A linking canal with a lock, constructed in 1994, restored the hydrological connection between Srebarna Lake and the Danube, enabling an annual inflow of river water and preventing the lake’s isolation that began in 1949. This intervention improved water levels, reduced eutrophication trends and supported the recovery of biodiversity, notably the Dalmatian pelican colony. The site, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, is managed by the Ministry of Environment and Water through the Regional Inspectorate (RIEW) in Ruse, and has been part of Natura 2000 since 2008, with a 673-ha buffer zone.

Recent UNESCO reporting (2024) confirmed the site’s official area at 638 ha after correcting a cartographic error from 2007. Management faces new challenges: predation of pelican eggs by invasive raccoon dogs and, more rarely, golden jackals, sometimes facilitated by late ice formation after mild winters. These factors have prompted measures such as protective fencing around nesting sites. The hydrological system and monitoring remain essential to maintain ecological values, while updated management planning and maintenance of hydraulic structures are priorities for sustaining the lake’s ecological health.

Dimitrovgrad Municipality restored, protected and promoted the sustainable development of the “Zlato pole” protected area by securing additional water to maintain its hydrological regime and constructing a hydraulic intake and supply channel. Water is diverted from the Martinka River, via a small intake and settling basin, then conveyed ~580 m in a buried 600-mm pipe and ~520 m in an open canal with control gates; the scheme was completed in 2013. The 84.79-ha site overlaps the Natura 2000 SPA BG0002103 “Zlato pole”, for which the Ministry adopted site-specific conservation objectives in June 2024, including targets for key birds such as Pygmy Cormorant and Ferruginous Duck and for wetland habitats. Management is overseen by RIEW Haskovo, with an information centre in Raynovo supporting education and visitors. Post-project actions have included nest boxes, aquatic plantings (white waterlily) and safeguarding of Leucojum aestivum. Current pressures reported on site are recurrent fires, illegal hunting/fishing and occasional flooding along the Martinka. Overall, the restoration sustains wetland hydrology, enhances habitat mosaics on the Maritsa floodplain and underpins ongoing Natura 2000 commitments, while requiring continued local engagement and enforcement.

The LIFE WETMAN project (2011–2015) restored six Slovenian wetlands (Pohorje bogs, Zelenci, Mura–Petišovci oxbows, Gornji kal, Planik and Vrhe). It improved hydrological conditions (e.g., dams on outflows in the Pohorje bogs and a gravel/sediment trap on the Čošelnov graben feeding Zelenci), removed overgrowth, and eliminated invasive fish in Gornji kal and the Mura oxbows. To reduce habitat damage and disturbance, footpaths/boardwalks were created in Zelenci and on the Pohorje bogs. Site-specific management guidelines were prepared and integrated into sectoral and Natura 2000 planning to ensure long-term conservation.
After LIFE, implementation continued: a Zelenci management plan was prepared in 2013 with the municipality; the national Natura 2000 Management Programme (2015–2020) and the integrated project LIFE-IP NATURA.SI (2018–2026) have supported further measures and monitoring. On Pohorje, follow-up regional projects (SUPORT and POHORKA, 2019–2023) consolidated habitat and visitor-management actions. WETMAN’s results were also recognised with a Best LIFE Nature award at EU Green Week.

The maintained reserve “Dolna Topchiya” (Natura 2000 BG0000195 “Reka Tundzha 2”) was restored by RIEW–Stara Zagora through a diversion weir and a ~900 m channel linking the River Tundzha to the Malka Tundzha, to rewet riparian floodplain forest (habitat 91F0). In 2018–2024 the scope expanded under OP Environment project BG16M1OP002-3.007-0010 to also restore the inundation regime of the adjacent maintained reserve “Balabana” (Elhovo Municipality). Main works delivered in 2023: at Balabana, a water intake on the Tundzha and reconstruction of irrigation canals “Iztochen” (1,897 m), “Popovska 1” (879 m) and “Popovska 2” (863 m); at Dolna Topchiya, three gabion weirs (“Dipsiza 1–3”) with crest lengths 14/10/12 m to raise soil moisture. Contractor: Technostroy-Engineering 99 AD; supervision: IVPI Consult OOD. Total budget BGN 1,489,422.96 (ERDF + national co-financing). Closing press event: 21 Nov 2023; administrative end: 26 Apr 2024. The objective is to sustain riparian forests (habitats 91F0, 92A0) by re-establishing periodic flooding and groundwater recharge.

LIFE-Nature “Green Borders” (LIFE07 NAT/RO/000681, 2009–2013), coordinated by WWF with Romanian and Bulgarian partners, aimed to secure Pygmy Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus) and Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) by restoring nesting/feeding habitats and promoting best fisheries management. It created a cross-border framework for 11 Natura 2000 sites along the Lower Danube.
Key works included improving the hydrological regime of Kaikusha marsh in Persina Nature Park (BG), completed in 2012, and the ecological reconstruction of the Gerai(ului) backwater at the Olt–Danube confluence (RO) in 2011.
The project’s studies supported the 2013 designation of three Transboundary Ramsar complexes (Iezerul Călărași–Srebarna, Suhaia–Belene Islands Complex, and Bistret–Ibisha), strengthening coordinated wetland management across the border.
Follow-up restoration in the Lower Danube Green Corridor continued under the Living Danube Partnership: water control was modernised at Persina/Kalimok and a further project prepared for Kaikusha; in Romania, >400 ha at Gârla Mare–Vrata were reconnected to the Danube in 2022. Note: in Sept 2021, a major fire burned most reedbeds at Kaikusha, temporarily degrading habitat.

Executive Forest Agency (EFA) is the coordinating beneficiary and, with WWF, implements a project to protect and restore 11 riparian and wetland habitat types across ~21,000 ha in ten Bulgarian nature parks (Bulgarka, Vitosha, Vratsa Balkan, Golden Sands, Rila Monastery, Ruse Lom, Blue Rocks, Strandja, Shumen Plateau). Building on this, LIFE13 NAT/BG/000801 (Sept 2014–Feb 2019) targeted habitat 91E0* in two Natura 2000 sites—Maritza River (BG0000578) and Marten-Ryahovo (BG0000529)-with actions at Merich Orman and Gushterova Odaya (Maritsa) and on Aleko Island (Danube). In total, 48.1 ha of riparian forests were restored: 24.0 ha through afforestation with native species (e.g., Quercus robur, Ulmus spp., Fraxinus angustifolia, Alnus glutinosa, Populus nigra, Salix alba) and 24.1 ha enhanced using an adapted “Saarland method” to remove invasives and improve stand structure. Monitoring showed variable survival (c. 80% at Marten-Ryahovo; lower on Maritsa after the 2016 drought and riverbed lowering from aggregate extraction), prompting a shift to autumn replanting and adjusted species mixes. Long-term management is secured via 30-year agreements with site managers; national technical guidelines on riparian forest restoration were published in 2018, and follow-up maintenance continues with EFA and the Regional Forest Directorates.

The Ministry-coordinated programme in Šumava National Park restores natural (pre-drainage) water regimes to mires, stabilising water tables, reducing fluctuations, and re-starting peat-forming vegetation and processes while engaging the public. Design has been refined around the Target Water Table (TWT) and a micro-catchment approach to size/space peat and wooden dams, infill drains, and return small streams to near-natural courses; public outreach and monitoring are integral.
Since 1999 the programme has expanded far beyond early pilots: by 2024, 65 locations in the Šumava region had been hydrologically restored, totaling 2,718 ha, with ~296 km of drainage channels blocked, 36 km of streams and 28 spring areas restored.
Within LIFE for MIRES (2018–2024), the project delivered ~2,181 ha of restored wetlands, 212 km of ditches blocked, 35 km of restored streams, and 28 springs, supported by 1,840 volunteers, strengthening habitat for flagship species such as black grouse and improving landscape water retention.
Overall, Šumava’s mire restoration now couples targeted hydrological design with long-term monitoring and public involvement to secure biodiversity gains and climate-relevant water storage at landscape scale.