Bern Convention

Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats

The complaint was issued in 2001 by a group of NGOs in Bulgaria on the construction of the motorway connecting Dresden, Budapest, Sofia, and Istanbul, with a branch from Sofia to Thessalonica through the Kresna Gorge.

Kresna gorge is a Natura 2000 site and home to a diversity of species including wolfs (Canis lupus), brown bears (Ursus arctos) and otters (Lutra lutra) as well as many protected birds, bats and reptiles.

The already existing road and railway passing through the gorge divide the reserve and the Kresna Natura 2000 Site into two parts. The further development of the road would, according to the complainant, affect two Natura 2000 sites and for around 60 km the motorway would run in the riverbed itself, destroying habitats of vital importance for the Via Aristotelis migration route.

The on-the-spot appraisal (OSA) carried out in 2002 emphasised that the construction of the motorway by widening the current way by 10 or 20m would considerably increase the impact on the site through the installation of new ripraps on the riverbanks, the installation of protection nets, the correction of the slopes to avoid landslides and the increase of traffic. The Standing Committee thus recommended that the Bulgarian government among other measures, should take into account in the development of this project the imperatives of conserving fauna, flora, and habitats as well as the concerns of the local communities, ensuring that the decision on the routing of the motorway is taken based on an in-depth environmental impact assessment (EIA) and considering the possibility of abandoning the option of enlarging the current road since this would substantially increase damage to a unique site without possible measures of compensation, and continuing to study alternative routes located outside the gorge.

In 2009, the Standing Committee decided to close the case file as Bulgaria informed the Committee that the decision to avoid the Kresna Gorge has been taken and that a “tunnel” alternative was being considered.

In 2015 eight Bulgarian NGOs informed the Secretariat that the Bulgarian government planned to construct the last section of the Struma motorway through the Kresna Gorge and to reject the tunnel alternative. Subsequently, the Standing Committee decided to consider this closed file as a possible file and decided in 2020 that another OSA should be carried out.

In 2021, an online advisory mission was carried out resulting in Recommendation 212 (2021), which in particular encouraged a better collaboration between parties and efficient use of available data to make informed and holistic decisions. The results of the mission appeared to have initially created some positive effects as the government and NGOs collaborated to send joint-reports before and after the 41st Standing Committee.

At the 43rd Standing Committee, in line with one of the recommendations, the parties agreed to hold a technical workshop in Kresna in 2024 to consider general transport and biodiversity challenges at Kresna and best practices to resolve them.

 Key Timeline

• 2001 - Case registration
• 2002 - OSA and Recommendation No. 98 (2002)
• 2004 - Opening of Case
• 2009 - Closing of case-file
• 2015 - Re-activation of case as possible file
• 2021 - Online Advisory Mission and Recommendation No. 212 (2021)

 Other countries possibly concerned

• Greece

 Other international organisations involved

• N/A

 Documents

 OSA report and recommendation

Regular reports to the Bureau and/or Standing Committee

Please note that all reports received by a Party during one calendar year are included in one single report for that year. Some older reports are not available in digital form.

Other information / documents