Environmental crisis in Northeastern Bulgaria: Mass forest dieback and urgent measures

Critical state of forest ecosystems

The mass dying of forest plantations in Northeastern Bulgaria has reached a scale that requires immediate action. According to representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the scientific community, the problem is the result of a combination of climate change and human intervention.

"We have a very serious problem with the dying of forests that requires immediate solutions," stated Prof. Ivan Paligorov.

Main challenges:

• Climate stress: Rising temperatures by 1.5 degrees and a change in precipitation patterns.
• Aging of plantations: A large part of the forests have reached the end of their life cycle.
• Economic risk: Potential losses of about 10 billion euros due to destroyed timber.

Necessary measures

Experts propose:

• Carrying out sanitary and forced felling to limit the damage.
• Large-scale reforestation, using mainly local, drought-resistant tree species.
• Updating regulations and better management of the field-protective forest belts in Dobrudzha.

The restoration of the affected 1.8 million hectares of forest requires coordinated efforts between the state, local authorities, and the scientific community to ensure the sustainability of the Bulgarian nature.