Bed and Birding Accommodation Guide 2019

Conservation stories - Bulgaria
Srebarna Biosphere Reserve (and Ramsar site) is situated beside the south bank of the Danube River
(north-eastern Bulgaria). It supports the last breeding colony of the red-listed Dalmatian Pelican in
the country. An excellent example where conservation is having a positive impact is the Dalmatian
Pelican Conservation Project in Srebarna, with the financial support of Swarovski Optik and technical
assistance from Branta Birding Lodge and Srebarna Guesthouse; featuring two of the oldest partners
of the Bed & Birding network (see pages 7 and 8).
Swarovski Optik has funded the project since 1998, with annual work focusing on the maintenance
of a fence protecting the colony and mowing part of the reedbed around to ensure enough space for
breeding and a peripheral zone where predators could approach nests without being seen.
Over the years and at various different times, a total of 12 two-metre high wooden pile breeding platforms
have been built, on which the pelican nests are protected from predators and high water. In
parallel, three artificial rafts and a 120 m tunnel to approach the observation hide were also set up
in the colony as part of a joint research and conservation programme in the colony. With an increase
from just 50-60 pairs when the project began in 1998 to over 120 in 2017, despite several set-backs
from the depredations of predators and flooding, the success of the Pelican Conservation Project in
Srebarna shows that with the right management and targeted financial support there is still hope for
this large and beautiful waterbird.
Conservation stories - Ukraine
For the past six years, Salix EcoTours have provided free winter-time accommodation at their
Iris cottage, one of our our B&B partners in Ukraine (see page 11) for engineers from British
company BioFare who are working with the Ukrainian biomass company BioTop.
These two companies are testing a pilot production facility to make pellets from reeds harvested
from a nearby reedbed beside the Danube River that has invaded open waters and
reduced the numbers of breeding birds such as ferruginous duck, pygmy cormorant and
glossy ibis.
As a result of carefully controlled harvesting, paid for by the sale of the pellets produced,
these and other birds (as well as water plants and amphibians) have benefitted. The improved
numbers and visibility of birds in turn make Iris cottage a better location for birding.
Moreover, local people now have a reliable and low carbon alternative fuel to gas.
Tall, dense reed that excludes many open-water birds
Open water patches recreated and maintained at
Lake Kagul, located 20 min walk from Iris Cottage.
Artificial platforms for breeding Dalmatian pelicans
Low-ground pressure harvester at work in winter
at Lake Kagul
Reed pellets produced from harvesting reed straw
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