Bulgaria reserve within Central Balkan National Park Significant areas of the Balkan mountains are under protection by Bulgarian law, including one national park —
Central Balkan National Park; three nature parks —
Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park,
Bulgarka Nature Park and Sinite Kamani Nature Park, over 20 nature reserves, as well as numerous natural landmarks. Central Balkan National Park is among the largest and most valuable of the protected areas in Europe. Since 2017, its ancient beech forests have been included in the
Primeval Beech Forests UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the third largest protected territory in Bulgaria, spanning an area of 716.69 km2 with total length of 85 km from the west to the east and an average width of 10 km. Within its territory are located the highest summit of the mountain range,
Botev Peak (2376 m), as well as the highest
waterfall in the Balkans
Raysko Praskalo (124.5 m). The flora of Central Balkan National Park is diverse and consists of 1689 species of
vascular plants, 45 species of
algae and 238 species of
mosses. These include 23 Bulgarian endemic species, such as leafy primrose (
Primula frondosa), which is only found within the park's boundaries,
Alchemilla achtarowii,
Alchemilla jumrukczalica,
Betonica bulgarica,
Centaurea davidovii, as well as another 75 Balkan endemics. The vertebrate fauna of Central Balkan National Park consists of over 300 species. The number of
mammal species is around 60, including animals of high conservation concern, such as the:
Balkan chamois (
R. rupicapra balcanica),
Eurasian brown bear,
Eurasian otter,
Eurasian wolf,
European ground squirrel,
European snow vole,
European wild boar,
European wildcat,
Lesser mole-rat,
Marbled polecat,
Pine marten,
Red deer,
Red fox,
Western roe deer. The
avifauna includes some 220 species, of which 123 are resident/nesting. The park is key for the protection of the
eastern imperial eagle,
saker falcon,
Eurasian eagle-owl,
Eurasian pygmy owl,
Ural owl,
boreal owl,
white-backed woodpecker,
semicollared flycatcher and the
corn crake. The park's
herpetofauna includes 15
reptile and nine
amphibian species. It hosts vital populations of
common European adder (
Vipera berus),
European toad,
grass snake (
Natrix natrix),
legless lizard,
tessellated water snake,
viviparous lizard and the
common frog. Due to the park's high altitude, the ichthyofauna consists of six fish species, with
brown trout being the dominant one. Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park is situated in the western section of the mountain range and spans an area of 301.29 km2. Its territory includes some of the most extensive karst areas in Bulgaria with over 600 caves, such as
Ledenika, the gorge
Vratsata whose 400 m vertical cliffs are the highest in the Balkans, and numerous waterfalls, such as
Skaklia (141 m drop but unlike Raysko Praskalo it is seasonal) and
Borov Kamak (63 m drop). The flora includes 1082 species of vascular plants and 186 species of mosses. The endemism is lowers when compared to the Central Balkan National Park — 6 Bulgarian and another 36 Balkan endemic species. The vertebrate fauna encompasses 276 species. The recorded mammal species are 58 and include gray wolf,
golden jackal, wildcat, marbled polecat,
European polecat, European pine marten and 22 bat species. The birds are 181 species, including 124 nesting ones. Typical species are the
golden eagle,
long-legged buzzard,
peregrine falcon, Eurasian eagle-owl,
Alpine chough,
Alpine swift,
Eurasian crag martin,
red-rumped swallow,
wallcreeper, etc. There are 15 reptile and 11 amphibian species; of them important populations exist of the
meadow lizard,
European copper skink,
Balkan crested newt, as well as the only habitat in Bulgaria of the
northern crested newt, which is also its southernmost locality worldwide. There have been successful efforts in the reintroduction of two vulture species that went extinct from the mountain range in the past several decades. In 2021 the first
cinereous vulture in Bulgaria in nearly 30 years hatched in Kotel mountains in the eastern section of the mountain range, thus establishing the second breeding colony in the Balkans, after the one in north-eastern Greece. In recent years, several breeding pairs of
griffon vulture have established themselves in the Vratsa Balkan to the west, as well as in the eastern sections of the Balkan Mountains. The eastern Balkan Mountains are among the priority areas in the reintroduction programme for the
bearded vulture. Since the early XXI century there have been several records of the
Eurasian lynx, which has been considered extincts in Bulgaria since the 1940s, in a number of localities along the Balkan Mountains.
Serbia First group of trees was protected in 1966, followed by the creation of 7 special nature reserves and 3 natural monuments in the 1980s. Nature park Stara Planina was established in 1997 and since 2009 is in its present borders, covering an area of . The protected area was expanded in 2020. The sediments extend from the
Paleozoic to the
Cenozoic eras. Limestone terrain is known for the short
losing streams and
tufaceous waterfalls. There are canyons and gorges, like those of the
Toplodolska reka and
Rosomačka reka rivers. Underground waters on the mountain reach the surface in the forms of common springs, well-springs (
vrelo) and diffused springs (
pištevina). There are some 500 springs with the flow of over . The strongest spring is the intermittent
Jelovičko vrelo, known for its fluctuations, characterized by the bubbling and foaming.
Montane ecosystems are diverse and include several plant communities: forests, shrubs, meadows, pastures and
peatlands. There are six different
vegetation zone in the park.
Oak,
beech,
spruce,
subalpine zone of the shrub vegetation of
common horsetail,
blueberry, subalpine spruce and
mugo pine. Other plants include shrub
alder, steppe
pedunculate oak, but also rare and endangered species like
European pasqueflower,
yellow pheasant's eye,
Kosovo peony,
common sundew,
Heldreich's maple,
martagon lily,
pygmy iris and
marsh orchid. In the 1980s, fossils of
Thecodontosaurus were discovered on the mountain. It is one of the oldest recorded species of dinosaurs, and the remains are estimated to be some 250 million years old. Some 190 species of butterflies are recorded. There are 203 species of birds, of which 154 are nesting in the park, 10 are wintering, 30 are passing and 13 are wandering. Important species include
golden eagle,
Ural owl and
hawk. As the park is the most important habitat in Serbia for
long-legged buzzard,
Eurasian woodcock and an endemic
Balkan horned lark, an area of was declared a European
Important Bird Area. The
griffon vulture disappeared from the region in the late 1940s. In 2017 a program for their reintroduction began within the scope of a wider European program. Among other things, the feeders will be placed along the vultures' migratory route. By 2023, there were regular sightings of griffon vultures, and, thanks to the efforts of Bulgarian and Spanish ornithologists, the cinereous vultures were seen flying over the Serbian side, while the population decline of
Egyptian vultures was slowed down. Neither griffon nor cinereous vultures are still nesting on Serbian side. The latter has not been nesting since the 1960s, when they were eradicated through the state operated campaign of poisoning wolves. Human heritage spans from the prehistoric remains,
Classical antiquity including the
Roman period and
late mediaeval monastic complexes. Some of those older monuments are fragmentary and relocated from their original locations. There are numerous examples of the ethnic edifices characteristic for the architecture of the region in the late 19th and early 20th century (houses, barns, etc.) This prompted similar protests in other parts of Serbia and the association "Defend the rivers of Stara Planina" was founded, which expanded its base of operations outside of the Stara Planina region. The activism resulted in various physical altercation between the local citizens on one, and contractors and their security guards on the other side, amidst the police interventions. In October 2018,
Minister of Environmental Protection Goran Trivan, said that the current law allows for the micro hydros to be built in the protected areas. The government allowed the construction of 800 micro hydros, which has been described as "megalomaniacal" by the ecologists, as they would produce less than 1% of the total electricity. Environmentalists also accused the government of destroying the plant and animal life using the pretext of
renewable energy. In September 2019,
Pirot city administration announced it is removing from the spatial plan all 43 existing locations for the micro hydros on the protected area of Stara Planina. There are 15 locations remaining in the unprotected sector of the mountain, but city officials announced abolishing of these locations in the future, too. By the 2020s, Stara Planina became a popular filmmaking locality. With Serbian productions, the foreign movies were also filmed here, including the 2019 Indian action movie
Uri: The Surgical Strike. Its director,
Aditya Dhar, expressed surprise with "unremarkable similarity between Stara Planina and
Kashmir". The
2022 Australian Oscar entry ''
You Won't Be Alone'' was also filmed on the mountain. == See also ==