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Protected areas
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Patronka protected site Patronka is located on the south bank of river Arda, east of the town of Madzharovo. It is one of the most picturesque and inaccessible portions of the valley of the Arda River, where the river bank is very steep and intensely rugged. Interspersed in a mosaic of oak woods there are open areas, rock complexes, single rocks and sprees. Read more |
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Momina Skala (the Maid’s Rock) protected site The Momina Skala protected site has an area of 782.03 ha. It was established with Order No: RD-475 of 11.07.2001 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving plants and animals that are protected and threatened with extinction as well as unique landscape and rock formations. The Momina Skala protected site is within the territory of the municipalities of Madzharovo and Krumovgrad, in the land of the village of Bryagovets. |
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The Chernata Skala protected site has an area of 893.70 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-473 of 11.07.2001 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving protected and endangered plants and animals and unique rock formations. It is situated in the Madzharovo Municipality, in the land of the villages of Topolovo, Rumeliya, Goren Glavanak and Gorno Pole. Read more |
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Golemiyat Sipey (the Big Scree) protected site The Golemiyat Sipey protected site has an area of 653.9 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-471 of 11.08.2001 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving rare and protected plants and animals as well as remarkable landscapes. The Golemiyat Sipey protected site is in the land of the villages of Rabovo and Byal Kladenets, the Stambolovo Municipality. Read more |
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Gyurgena protected site The Gyurgena protected site has an area of 72.40 ha and was established with Order No:649 of 23.11.2000 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds and the Group for the Research and Protection of Bats. It is located in the land of the village of Gaberovo, the Madzharovo Municipality. It has volcanic rock complexes with caves and Thracian niches, oak woods, rare and protected species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Read more |
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The Byala Reka Meanders protected site The Byala Reka Meanders protected site has an area of 1531.98 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-474 of 11.07.2001 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving rare and endangered animals and plants as well as characteristic landscapes. It is in the land of the villages of Zhelezari and Meden Buk, the Ivaylovgrad Municipality. It encompasses part of the valley of the Byala Reka River, which is uncommonly beautiful and biologically diverse. Read more |
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Likana protected site The Likana protected site has an area of 3 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-328 of 08.05.1992 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water. The Likana protected site contains characteristic landscapes in the land of the village of Svirachi, the Ivaylovgrad Municipality. It was set up to preserve the natural habitat of the sword-leaved helleborine orchid. Here inside a small area a large number of rare and protected plants can be found. |
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Dupkata (the Hole) protected site The Dupkata protected site has an area of 6.5 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-328 of 08.05.1992 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water. The Dupkata protected site is immediately above the town of Ivaylovgrad and includes a natural landmark, a precipice cave.. In a relatively small space a mosaic of drought-loving vegetation grows on a limy terrain – a mixed sucker deciduous forest of Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orienalis), flowering-ash (Fraxinus ornus), hairy oak (Quercus pubescens)... |
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Hambar Dere protected site The Hambar Dere protected site has an area of 101.10 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-427 of 29.10.1999 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving forest formation along the river banks, xerophyte oak woods as well as rare and endangered plant and animal species. |
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Oreshari protected site The Oreshari protected site has an area of 55 ha. It was established with Order No:274 of 23.08.1999 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. The Oreshari protected site is in the Krumovgrad Municipality, in the land of the village of Oreshari. Despite its limited area, it contains various habitats – rocks, pastures, mesophyll and xerophyll woods, and shrubs, which determine the high level of biodiversity. |
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Ribino protected site The Ribino protected site has an area of 66.30 ha. It was established with Order No:583 of 02.11.2000 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving protected and rare plants and animals. The Ribino protected site is in the land of the village of the same name in the Krumovgrad Municipality. In the Ribino protected site we find some of the biggest Eastern Rhodope caves. |
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Sredna (Middle) Arda protected site The Sredna Arda protected site has an area of 420 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-380 of 24.07.2000 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water. The Sredna Arda protected site is in the Kardzhali Municipality, in the land of the villages of Zvezdelina and Visoka Polyana. It was established with the aim of preserving rare and endangered plant and animal species as well as remarkable landscapes. In the protected site’s territory the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), the Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo), the Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), the European roller (Coracias garrulus), the rock nuthatch (Sitta neumayer), Subalpine Warbler ( Sylvia cantillans) and the black-headed bunting (Emberiza melanocephala) all nidificate. One of the caves in the protected site provides shelter to the bats: the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) the long-fingered bat (Myotis capaccinii) and the common bent-wing bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) which are included in the World Red List. Their total number is 10000-12000 individuals. The protected site is part of the IBA Studen Kladenets of global nature conservation importance |
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Yumruk Skala (the Fist Rock) protected site The Yumruk Skala protected site has an area of 346 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-569 of 31.10.2000 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, with the aim of preserving rare and protected birds. The Yumruk Skala protected site is in the land of the village of Kaloyantsi in the Kardzhali Municipality. It holds unique rock massifs situated on the northern shore of the Studen Kladenets dam lake – an area that is extremely important for the preservation of rare and endangered bird species. Here are the nests of the black stork (Ciconia nigra), the griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), the long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus), the Eagle-owl (Bubo bubo), the European roller (Coracias garrulus), the masked shrike (Lanius nubicus). The protected site is part of the IBA Studen Kladenets of global nature conservation importance. |
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Gyumyurdzhinski Snezhnik protected site The Gyumyurdzhinski Snezhnik protected site has an area of 1926.40 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-153 of 21.02.2003 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water, on the suggestion of the Bulgarian-Swiss Program for the Protection of Biodiversity, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, and the University of Forestry, with the aim of preserving centuries-old woods and the habitats of endangered species. |
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Dyavolski Most (Devil’s Bridge) protected site The Dyavolski Most protected site has an area of 2 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-552 of 07.05.2003 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water. It is in the land of the village of Dyadovtsi, the Ardino Municipality. In the protected site we can find the habitat of the plant that is the symbol of the Rhodopes, the Balkans endemite and relict – the Haberlea rhodopensis. Of the birds, here you can watch the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), the Long-legged Buzzard (Buteo rufinus), the Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), the White-throated Dipper (Cinclus cinclus), the Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) and the Eurasian Crag Martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris). The Arda River is inhabited by the Otter (Lutra lutra), which is included in the World Red List. |
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Aida protected site The Aida protected site has an area of 3.5 ha. It was established with Order No:RD-549/07.05.2003 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water. It is in the land of the village of Spahievo, the Mineralni Bani Municipality. It is made up of a natural, centuries-old, seed oak wood. Before being pronounced a protected site, Aida had been a historic site, because Angel Voyvoda’s band had once had a bivouac there. |
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The Black Maidenhair Fern Habitat protected site The Black Maidenhair Fern Habitat protected site has an area of 1.5 ha. The Habitat was established with Order No:1114/03.12.1981 by the Ministry of the Environment and Water with the aim of preserving the Black Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris) population, a rare species, included in Bulgaria’s Red Book. Defileto (the Gorge) protected site The Defileto protected site has an area of 37.20 ha and covers part of the gorge of the Harmanliyska River, close to the town of Harmanli. |
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