It is important to speak about crimes against wild nature, because this issue is very topical in Bulgarian society. Due to the active support of the Bulgarian media, the court passed quick sentences on the local poachers, said Dimitar Gradinarov from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. Dimitar and his colleagues presented the real professionals who have been fighting poaching successfully. The Head of the Police department in the town of Tsarevo Krasimir Kirov who heads an investigation of 15 signals of illegal logging and wild animal hunting is among those people. Most people who are subject to investigation already received sentences for poaching. Vladimir Penchev intercepted illegal trade with songbirds at the animal market in Poduyane district in Sofia. Commissar Reneta Peeva worked on a case related to poaching of protected bird species. She is an investigating officer employed at the Ministry of Interior in Burgas. The poacher is a British citizen who was sentenced to six months of probation and a fine of 2,500 EUR due to violation against wild nature. More from commissar Peeva:

“We received information that he possessed taxidermy birds and eggs of protected species. The Police officers seized the birds and the eggs from Mr. Ross’ house. Later, a series of investigations were made with the help of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. There was enough evidence and the lawsuit ended quickly. The British national received an adequate sentence. I am delighted with this result against the backdrop of the sentences passed in similar cases in other European countries. In most cases the money penalties do not scare poachers like Mr. Ross. He would not even perceive a fine worth 5,000 GBP as punishment and would continue to exercise his hobby.”

Poaching in Bulgaria has different forms - illegal hunting of wild animals, collecting rare reptiles and plants, as well as illegal logging. The problem regarding illegal logging is huge and people are not fully aware of the scale of that problem, some environmentalists claim. Engineer Dimitar Batalov from the Ministry of Environment and Water witnessed illegal logging of Bulgarian forests.

“The poachers are well-organized. They place photo traps and monitor the activity of the people employed at the national forestry. They exchange information about the places of inspections. They act in groups and are usually better equipped than the controlling bodies. In the region of Botevgrad (Northwestern Bulgaria) for instance, we found out that poachers log nearly 70 cubic meters of wood per day. So far, the inspectors are unable to cover the huge forest territories in that region. We rely on the severe control measures during the transportation of wood and at the wood-processing factories that will enter into force in January, 2016”, Engineer Batalov went on to say.

“I Protect the Woods and the Eagles of Bulgaria” is the motto of a project developed by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds. The number of problems is huge, but the competent authorities must focus on the control and the qualification of the controlling bodies, environmentalist Dimitar Gradinarov claims and adds:

“The crimes against nature in Bulgaria are left behind, because of the big number of other types of crimes registered here. I believe that the state institutions will soon launch some special groups that will take control over these crimes. Currently we rely mainly on signals sent by citizens and our activities on the spot. We often find traces of poaching there. I am talking about rare species. The extinction of even one protected plant or animal has a negative effect over the population of this species in Bulgaria. ”

Written by: Gergana Mancheva

English version: Kostadin Atanasov