Within the territory of the South-Eastern State Enterprise in the city of Sliven, 560 hectares of stands have been cultivated for the individual production of high-quality timber. This represents 160% of the target set under the “LIFE for Eagle’s Habitats” project. Activities aimed at transforming coniferous plantations into natural broadleaf forests in the North-Eastern State Enterprise in Shumen and the South-Eastern State Enterprise in Sliven have so far been completed at 110% (124 ha). Additionally, maintenance and restoration works have been conducted on 1,150 ha of ecotones to improve the habitat of the Lesser Spotted Eagle. A total of 63 hectares of protective forest belts have been restored or established in the territory of the North-Eastern State Enterprise.
This progress was reported by the project implementation team under the EU’s LIFE Programme during the sixth field meeting and presented at the tenth session of the Supervisory Committee.
The project partners — the Executive Forest Agency, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, and the North-Eastern and South-Eastern State Enterprises — discussed the progress of all project activities across components in accordance with the approved plan. Overachievement was also reported for several other activities, such as conducted training sessions, forest pedagogy programs, and more.
The project manager, Eng. Rosen Raychev, presented information on the overall budget spending by the partners, as well as the necessary costs to complete the planned activities by the project deadline — August 1, 2025.
Following the discussions, the participants decided to submit a proposal to the LIFE Programme managing authority to extend the project implementation period by three months. This extension would allow for additional activities and initiatives to be carried out, including the completion of Activity C5, which involves the development of regional forest development plans for the regions of Sliven and Yambol.