Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
On the whole, both valleys are oriented in an east-west direction. The two rivers,
which run steady and full all year round, have their point of confluence at Brichebor
locality. Their valleys are separated by a steep and tall mountain ridge, which falls
entirely within the Park perimeter. The ridge is characterized by the steep incline of
both its northern and southern slopes, its high-mountain meadows and pastures in its
upper reaches, and the several high, pointed peaks (Ostratz, Theodossievi Karaouli,
Baba and Prichebor) that crown it. From the east, the ridge is accessible to the area of
Ribni Lakes (a cluster of glacial high-mountain lakes) and the Hydroto locality.
All river valleys in the park are characterized by slopes that are steep or very steep in
incline. Table 31 shows the distribution of terrains in the Park territory according to
incline.
Table 31: Distribution of terrains within the territory of RMNP according to
incline
Incline % % of RMNP area
0-10 2.5
11-20 5.3
21-30 9.7
31-40 1.0
Over 40 70.5
Aesthetic quality of the landscapes
As a result of the field assessment of landscapes carried out in 2001, the landscapes in
RMNP were rated for quality according to a number of criteria (aesthetic and others),
the decisive criterion being the all-round appearance of the landscape (Appendix 26).
In the lab assessment, in 43% of all cases considered, of decisive importance for the
final score was the sum of all aesthetic criteria plus the general character grade.
Therefore, the landscape of Rila Monastery Nature Park is perceived and assessed in
an aesthetically complex manner, as an integral unity of components and qualities. Of
the landscapes subject to the field assessment, about 85% were rated as highly
picturesque and vividly evocative, and only 15% as being of medium aesthetic
appeal. The final scores are closely related to the great relative significance of the
criterion of naturalness (preservedness), stability, uniqueness (rarity, exotic flavor):
over 90% of the landscapes assessed scored high for stability; 84%, for naturalness,
and ca. 82% scored high for uniqueness.
The landscapes in RMNP as a natural resource
The ranking of components which determine the character and aesthetic merit of a
landscape in the lab assessment shows that the presence of forest has the highest
relative importance (28%), followed by rocks and rock formations (17%), lay of the
land (12%), aquatic components (11%), etc. There is a correlation between the
presence of a given component within a given landscape and the significance of that
component for the landscape’s character and outlook. In this line of thought, it is
worth noting that the relatively low recorded significance of flowers (4%) does not
mean that they have been played down in the assessment; it simply means that
flowers appear in a negligible number of landscapes that have been subject to lab
Rila monastery Nature Park
ManaegmentPlan - Draft
2004 - 2013
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