Rila Monastery Nature Park Management Plan - part - usaid

February 2004
Similar in its destructive effect, though diametrically opposite in terms of motive, is
the picking of flowers, which poses a threat to a whole series of flowering plants of
conservation significance. The picking of flowers for bouquets is a favorite activity
with many visitors. On their way back from outings they carry away many attractive
species of higher plants: Globe flower (a rare species), Lilium jankae (a rare species),
Aquilegia aurea (a rare species and Balkan endemic), Martagon lily etc.
Significance: medium, high for some species
Arson and man-made fires
Instances of man-made fires have been recorded both prior to (on the slopes north of
Kravarski Dol ravine), and since the designation of the territory as a Nature Park. The
great fire of 2000 in the region of Kalin ridge is a reminder that the threat of manmade
fires is all too real and significant. Fires are the most drastic form of human
interference with natural habitats, the one that causes the largest and most significant
changes in them. They affect virtually all groups of organisms, causing changes in
habitats that accelerate erosion processes while destroying smaller and slowermoving
organisms, incl. beetles, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals, together
with their habitats. Observations made in 2001 in areas destroyed by fire show that
the devastation has certainly affected important and vulnerable habitats of
significance for the biota, incl. for bird species of the alpine biome.
Significance: medium, potentially very high
Use of chemical or biological agents
Chemical agents, including fertilizers, detergents and other, are used, albeit on a small
scale, throughout the Park territory, mostly around sites and facilities of the social
infrastructure. Chemical agents are also used in fish breeding, in fish farms around
the Park (see also Illegal fishing above). This particular threat causes changes in
aquatic ecosystems, the topsoil and some microhabitats.
Significance: low
Large-scale interference with the natural water outflow
In the territory of RMNP, there operate a variety of systems and facilities used to
collect, store and divert waters (see part 4.1.2 Infrastructure: Hydropower and water
supply facilities). These facilities hold back a considerable portion of the natural
water outflow, diverting parts of it to water reservoirs outside the Park territory. The
existing high-mountain diversions and canals disrupt the natural conditions of
forming the river outflow downstream of their locations, causing changes in the
cross-feeding of the surface and subterranean water streams. Particularly affected are
the areas of Ribni Lakes, Smradlivoto Lake, Tiha Rila River, Kalin Dam, and a
number of sections of both major river valleys at Elevation 2000. The overall
hydrological and ecological impact of the above mentioned instances of human
interference are practically unknown. The visible effect amounts to violations of the
requirement to ensure the discharge of an ecologically sound minimum of waters
downstream of each hydrotechnical facility thereby cause a drastic drop in the water
Rila Monastery Nature Park
Management Plan - Draft
2004 - 2013
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