A protest against the construction of wind turbines in a protected area "Krumovica" was organized at 9:30 a.m. today in front of the Regional Inspectorate for Water and Environment-Haskovo by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds.
Half an hour later, the meeting of the Expert Ecological Council is scheduled, which must issue a decision on the Environmental Impact Assessment Report of the project.
Over 5,000 citizens have already declared themselves against the construction of 26 wind turbines with a height of 249 meters in a large-scale petition organized by the society. Objections have also been filed by citizens, international organizations, hunting societies and scientific institutes.
The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds is raising the alarm that the Regional Environmental Inspectorate in Haskovo is planning to approve giant wind turbines with a height of 249 meters, just 300 meters from the nests of Egyptian vultures and golden eagles in the Krumovitsa protected area. This is the reason for today's protest, commented Dr. Volen Arkumarev from the society:
"The protest will be in defense of the protected area "Krumovica", near Krumovgrad, where wind turbines are planned to be built in the heart of the protected area, in close proximity to sensitive species such as the Egyptian vulture, the golden eagle, the griffon vulture. The turbines are only 300 meters from one of the nests. And, in fact, at 10 a.m. in the RIEW-Haskovo, an expert ecological council will begin, which will review the environmental impact assessment report and will come up with a decision to recommend to the director of the RIEW whether to approve it or return it. The Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water has previously issued a draft decision to approve the wind farm, which is worrying, and that is precisely why we are organizing this protest, because this is one of the last chances for local people to be heard and the concerns of the conservation community to be heard. Since this project poses an enormous number of risks for the valuable biodiversity in the region and especially for protected and globally endangered species."
The Regional Inspectorate in Haskovo is on the verge of completely ignoring the voices of conservationists and the local community, they warn. The main demands of the protesters are an immediate halt to the project, an objective examination of the submitted scientific data and preventing the destruction of one of the most valuable and pristine places for birds in Europe.