Enhancing biodiversity through sustainable management and protection of rare species habitat in Nestos and Ardas rivers and the Rodopi Mountain Range

Wild Life for Ever project has been developed in order to confront with the problem of inadequate biodiversity protection policies in Southern Bulgaria and North Eastern Greece. The area has significant importance from environmental and ecology point of view. One of the main reasons that they are considered to be so important is that they demonstrate a remarkable biodiversity since they constitute the natural habitat (permanent or occasional) for a large number for endangered species of the fauna and flora (endemic and migratory). Furthermore they are a part of the eastern European corridor of the bird’s migration.

Main reason of failure of present implemented strategies is that they are fragmented and do not consider local communities and their participation as a key element oin the development and the appliance of these policies.  S.Bulgaria and N.E. Greece despite the administrative borders is a unified environmental site with common or even the same ecological features. There is no point to implement biodiversity policies in the administrative borders of modern countries. These policies if we want to be effective must be implemented simultaneously and with close cooperation between the biodiversity protection authorities of both countries.

The overall objective of this project is the development of new, united, integrated, and flexible strategy of protection and restoration of the biodiversity initially at three targeted habitats, namely Nestos Straits and Southern Rodopi Mountains in Greece and Ardas river for the part that belongs to Bulgaria (241 km).

Main outputs of the program are a unified biodiversity database, the use of state of the art flying surveillance equipment, the development of a model for Risk Assessment in Natura 2000 sites in Bulgaria, improving and upgrading existing biodiversity protection infrastructure in Greek territory, upgrading & updating existing management plans for biodiversity in the Greek Region, establishing of a single new Quality Label, development of a dedicated website.

The project has been designed in the framework of know how dissemination, and interaction between beneficiaries, local authorities and local communities. Another key element of the project is the use of good practices, knowledge and methods that have been produced other products in the past. In other words the project is mentioned to build on current knowledges as well as to produce know knowledge.

The ultimate purpose is to accomplish a double task, to improve biodiversity protection policies and conditions and at the same time to promote local communities development and growth.