Bulgarian National Parks

Vocational High School of Veterinary

Medicine
“Prof. d-r George Pavlov”, Dobrich, Bulgaria

Bulgaria has three National Parks - Pirin, Rila and

 Bulgarian National Parks

They have a total area of 193,049 hectares and comprise more than one-third of all protected areas in
Bulgaria. The National Parks belong to the state. They are public property. They are managed and
administered by Directorates, operating under the Ministry of environment and waters
Conservation Management
Pirin, Rila and Central Balkan
are among the largest and most
valuable protected areas in
Europe. They contain some of
Europe’s remaining, extant,
wild regions. Identified as
Category II protected areas by
the World Conservation Union,
the Parks are managed in
accordance with the latest
conservation principles and
approaches. The Management
Plans for Rila and Central
Balkan are the first modern
conservation management
documents of their kind in the
Balkans.
 Bulgarian National Parks
Fauna
Bulgaria has more animal species
within its territory than any other
country in Europe. The three
National Parks encompass habitats
and natural environments necessary
for the survival
Bulgaria’s of Parks
National many are
of these
home to more than 4,000 invertebrate
species.
species, a quarter of which are of high conservation significance. Over 300
vertebrates reside in Rila, Pirin and Central Balkan National Parks. Some
of the most significant populations of large mammals in Bulgaria and
Europe live here. These include the Balkan chamois, brown bear, wolf, and
red deer. Twenty-five species of smaller mammals also live in Park
territory.
Over 200 vertebrate species are protected under both Bulgarian and
international law:
67% of all species of fishes, amphibians and reptiles are of high
conservation significance.