The forest ecosystem in the burned areas around the village of Voden, Elhovo Municipality, is gradually recovering. This was revealed during a joint inspection by representatives of the Executive Forestry Agency, the Regional Forestry Directorate – Kardzhali, RIEW, and the Ministry of Interior.

The experts surveyed three land plots within the largest fire-affected area this year, where the fire covered over 100,000 decares, 40,000 of which were forested areas. The goal of the inspection was to assess the state of valuable natural habitats, home to a wide diversity of species, some of which are globally endangered.

The experts concluded that despite the affected area, the fire mostly passed through the underbrush and did not critically damage the valuable habitats of endangered bird species. “In the land plots we inspected, the nests monitored as part of the LIFE project “LIFE for Eagle’s habitats” remain intact, the overall ecosystem is gradually recovering, and there is no threat to the nesting habitats of the species,” shared engineer Rosen Raichev, Deputy Executive Director of the Executive Forestry Agency and project leader.

Inspections of other burned areas are underway, and the full scope of the fire’s impact on nature and biodiversity across the country will be further monitored.