The area chosen by some of the released Cinereous vultures in Balkan Mountain for long stays and likely nesting in 2023/2024 is under fire. The region is also the target area of our project and hosts a Fallow deer captive breeding enclosure. Fortunately, I was not affected by the fire.

Yavor Iliev is a member of the FDFF Board and a farmer in Sakar. His eco-friendly farm “Sakar Almond” was affected by the fires, and he, along with colleagues from Green Balkans from the LIFE for the Lesser Kestrel project, actively participated in extinguishing the fire, which spanned an impressive area of up to 15000 ha. Coniferous and deciduous forests, permanent crops, pastures, houses, livestock barns, and more were burned.

“This is the largest fire since I started my business here more than 10 years ago,” says Yavor. One of his farm buildings burned down, and a dirt road stopped the fire 5 meters from his almond orchard. “The fire started from a spark from a mower clearing a walnut orchard next to a coniferous forest. It ignited so quickly. Houses and two sheep and cattle farms in the villages of Levka and Ravna Gora burned down.”

Mowing grass with machinery is the most common cause of fires. Bans on mowing as a fire prevention measure make it impossible to collect hay for animals and maintain permanent crops, under which the grass also needs to be mowed (which is more eco-friendly than ploughing). On pastures and meadows in the NATURA 2000 zones, there is a ban on clearing and mowing before July 15 due to bird nesting.

This means that the possible solutions are not equally suitable for all participants. Policies must be flexible, timely, and differentiated for different regions in Bulgaria. The only sure is the enormous need for more and more effective fire-fighting equipment.

Our experience of grazing sheep and cattle in Kotel Mountain and Kresna Gorge shows that this is a suitable fire prevention method, as the grass does not grow tall, is dry, and is easily flammable.