Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation

The Bulgarian Biodiversity Foundation works to protect, restore, and expand protected areas and ecological corridors across Bulgaria 

Peatlands play a vital role in nature. They support biodiversity, purify water, mitigate flooding and droughts, and store more than twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. In Bulgaria, peatlands are only found in the higher mountain areas. One of the most notable examples is found at Charite Lakes, within the Western Rhodope Natura 2000 Site. However, changes in hydrological conditions and the overgrowing of non-characteristic vegetation are damaging these peatlands.  

This grant supports a project dedicated to the long-term preservation and restoration of these fragile ecosystems. By safeguarding peatlands in the Western Rhodopes, the project contributes to the Natura 2000 network, which is the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world, and provides refuge for Europe’s most valuable and endangered species and habitats.