Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
5.4 Potential value of the protected territory
5.4.1 Evaluation of the potential for sustainable management of resources
This subchapter is based on an estimate of the financial value of timber and nontimber
natural resources (medicinal plants and wild-growing fruits) and tourism. The
actual value is calculated on the basis of typical or predominant production costs
and/or market prices of the product. Estimations in the tourism sphere are based on
data of current financial values related to that sector, gathered during the
socioeconomic survey carried out in 2001, as part of the development of the
Management Plan.
Forestry and timber resources
The financial value (revenue and expenditure) of the use of forests in Rila Monastery
Nature Park has been estimated on the basis of the use of timber as prescribed under
Forest Inventory (FI) 2000, for the period 2000-2009. The ten-year forest inventory is
in force to guide and direct all forestry activities and any other actions undertaken in
forests within the Park territory until the Management Plan is adopted and comes into
force. It does not, however, take into account the added value of the territory,
comprising the combined values of biodiversity, tourism, educational programs and
interpretation, opportunities for scientific research and the value of non-timber natural
products.
The value of timber resources has been estimated without taking into account the
additional value of all resources within the Park. If the only use of a natural resource
practiced within RMNP were timber extraction pursuant to the provisions of FI 2000,
the estimated value of that over a 10-year period would be 9.75 million BGN. It
should be noted, however, that most of the timber slated for extraction is either
inaccessible, or too costly to log, or both. Expenses for logging the above mentioned
9.75 million BGN’s worth of timber are estimated at almost 6.37 million BGN. 6 .
In view of the other natural resources available within RMNP, the potential revenue
from timber use has been calculated by factoring in an experimental model of
sustainable forestry. Calculations of the financial value of timber use by applying that
model are likewise based on data from FI 2000, yet they are extrapolated from a
restricted area of where the impact and sustainability of the model are to be tested in
regard to the significance of other natural resources and the possibilities of the Park.
If the proposed experimental model of sustainable forestry proves effective and
successful, its implementation for timber extraction from other locations within the
Park may be considered in subsequent ten-year management plans.
6 In estimating the approximate cost pertinent to the extraction of one cu.m of timber, the following
basic costs have been factored in: (1) Logging: fuel (gasoline) and oil for the chainsaws; equipment
depreciation; transportation of crews to the logging grounds; labor remuneration; (2) Extraction (by
tractor or draft animals) diesel fuel and oil for the tractor; depreciation; labor remuneration for the
driver and his assistant; transportation of crews to the logging grounds; (3) Transportation costs to the
nearest railroad station (70 km); diesel fuel and oil for the tractor; labor, loading of the logs by crane;
(4) Management costs.
Rila monastery Nature Park
ManaegmentPlan - Draft
2004 - 2013
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