Proposer:

Name: Valentina Todorova

e-mail address: todorov@telecoms.bg

List potential sources of pollution that are likely to impinge on the site:-

Industrial pollution:

• No large or medium industrial enterprises are present in the district. Industrial pollution is insignificant.

Agricultural pollution:

• The reserve is within the boundaries of Kavarna town administrative region (48 068 ha total area), which is agricultural. About ¾ of the land is arable.

Main crops: wheat (50%), sunflower (30%), maize (25%).

Livestock: poultry – 25 823 heads, swine – 4 700 heads, sheep – 12 882 heads, cattle – 1 122 heads (1995 est.).

Pollution from agriculture is considered insignificant especially recently (last 12 years) because of reduced fertilization of land. ]

One third of the area comprises natural pastures and steppes, woodlands and bushes and coastal wetlands – these are situated in a strip along the coast. The entire terrestrial part of the reserve itself is uncultivated land with natural habitats. (See map.jpg)

Mining:

• Terrestrial mining and seabed drilling is not practised in the reserve and the adjacent areas.

Dumping:

Dredging:

• Dredging is not possible in the protected marine area because of the character of the seabed that is predominantly bedrock with patches of sand, shell gravel or silt.

What is the human population of the site in total and per unit area? What is the average population growth per year?

• The total population of Kavarna administrative region is 18 640 people out of which 12 329 live in Kavarna town and 6 311 – in 20 villages (1995 est.). Kavarna town is situated at a distance 12 km from "Kaliakra" reserve. The closest villages are: (See the map)

- Balgarevo – population 1 911 people, distance to the reserve boundaries - 4 km.

- Sveti Nikola – population 310 people, distance to the reserve - 2.5 km.

- Kamen Briag – population 152 people, distance to the reserve - 5 km.

The population per unit area is 2.58 people per hectare (48 068 ha total area/18 640 people).

The population growth rate for Bulgaria is negative –1.16% (2000 est.). The population in the adjacent to the reserve villages decreases as well.

How is sewage disposed of? If possible give an estimate of the quantity and quality of the output.

• Sewage from the three closest to the reserve villages is disposed in household swage pits without outlets. Quality of swage – domestic.

Describe the extent of commercial fishing in the area. Please specify the kinds of gear used (trawling, seine netting, lobster pots etc.)

Give an account of tourist activities in the area (how many tourists per year; what do they do?).

• The number of tourists per year for the period 1990-1996 varied between 700 and 10 000. Entire Kavarna administrative region provides 3 400 beds accommodation. About 60 % of the hotels work only during the summer. Among the closest villages to the reserve only Balgarevo has a hotel with 24 beds. Generally, the infrastructure for tourism is not well developed with the exception of "Rusalka" resort (200 beds), which is situated closely to the north border of the reserve.
• Activities – mainly bathing, very limited – water skiing, scuba diving, sport fishing.

Provide evidence that there are no natural stressors such as high turbidity or reduced salinity that are atypical of the region.

• The annual average salinity of the region is 16.19 %o. Salinity is lowest in spring – 14.6 %o due to Danube fersh water influence and highest in autumn – 17.8 %o (Konsulova et.all., 1997). These variations are not significant and do not differ from variations along Bulgarian Black Sea coast as a whole, (Rojdestvenskii, 1980). Salinity in the reserve area is not influenced by local fresh water basins.
• The coast to the north of cape Kaliakra is exposed to east and northeast wind and wave action (this is generally typical of the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, which has north-south profile). The coast to the south of cape Kaliakra is sheltered. This contributes to the variety of habitats present in the reserve – to the north the bottom is bedrock or coarse sand, while to the south the rock is covered by layer of mud.

Give references to any chemical or physical data that support the claim that this is a pristine site.

• According to the assessments made within the Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme, 1997, there are no human activities in the closest to the reserve three villages that threaten the local biodiversity. (References given below).

List the range of habitats present at the site:-

Littoral – actually it is pseudo-littoral, as the Black Sea is not tidal.

Rock: Yes

Sand: Yes

Mud: No

Sublittoral

Rock: Bedrock is predominant. Rocks are covered by mussels (Mytilus, Mytilaster), brown algae (Cystoseira) and green algae (Ulva).

Shell gravel: Yes

Sand: Yes

Mud: Yes

Seagrass beds: No

How representative is this site of its region (i.e. what regional habitats are missing)?

• The site is representative for the north Bulgarian coast, which is characterised by rocky shores. Mud littoral and seagrass beds are not represented in the reserve.

Both terrestrial and marine biodiversity of Nature reserve "Kaliakra" have been studied and documented within the Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme, 1997 (BSBCP). The results of the investigations have been published in a monograph (in Bulgarian) and a technical report with limited distribution (in English).

Zoobenthos, zooplankton and phytoplankton are sampled annually along West-East profile in front of cape Kaliakra beginning from 1 nautical mile from the coast, however the marine area of the reserve itself (500 m from the coastline) is not monitored.

For what groups of organisms are comprehensive inventories available? Please list major taxa in each category below, and list publications.

• Macrobenthos: Yes
• Meiobenthos: Inventory not available.
• Microbenthos: Inventory not available.
• Zooplankton: Yes
• Phytobenthos: Inventory is not comprehensive but some data are available.
• Phytoplankton: Yes
• Fish: Yes

List of macrobenthic groups encountered in "Kaliakra" reserve.

List of zooplankton groups encountered in "Kaliakra" reserve.

List of fish families encountered in the reserve

List of phytoplankton groups encountered at Kaliakra reserve

References:

Kaneva-Abadjieva, V., 1962. Distribution of molluscs along Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries – Varna, Vol. II, 67-79 (In Bulgarian with French summary)

Konsulov, A., 1991. Investigations on the biology, ecology and significance of zooplankton in the Bulgarian Black Sea area. D.Sc. Thesis, BAS Press, 300 pp. (in Bulgarian)

Konsulov, A., 1995. Biodiversity of Bulgarian Black Sea Area. National Report. GEF Black Sea Environmental Programme. Institute of Oceanology – BAS, Varna, 138pp. (in English)

Konsulova, T., 1984. Studies on the growth of mussel Mytilus galloprovinvialis Lam. in culture conditions on storm-proof floating systems in cape Kaliakra zone. Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries - Varna, Vol.XXI, 119-141. (In Bulgarian with English summary)

Konsulova, Ts., A. Konsulov, S. Moncheva, 1997. Assessment of the marine biota biodiversity state in the close coastal zone adjacent to the reserve "Kaliakra". Technical Report on Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme. Institute of Oceanology – BAS, Varna, 79 pp. (in English)

Konsulova, Ts., A. Konsulov, S. Moncheva, A. Velikov, L. Kamburska, 1997. Contemporary state of phytoplankton, zooplankton and zoobenthos. In: Dobrudja and Kaliakra. Scientific reports – Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme. Agriculture University Press, Plovdiv, 77-87. (in Bulgarian)

Moncheva, S. and T. Konsulova, 1983. The phytoplankton as a food for the cultured mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis Lam., in the area adjacent to cape Kaliakra, Bulgaria. Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries - Varna, Vol.XX, 145-152. (In Bulgarian with English summery)

Petrova-Karadjova, V., 1975. Quantitative distribution and resources of the brown algae Cystoseira barbata (Good et Wood) Ag. along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries – Varna, Vol. XIV, 83-101. (In Bulgarian with English summary)

Rojdestvenskii, A., 1980. Hydrochemistry of Bulgarian Black Sea area. BAS Press, Sofia, 190 pp.

Sivkov, J., 1997. Ichthyophauna in the coastal area of reserve "Kaliakra". In: Dobrudja and Kaliakra. Scientific reports – Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme. Agriculture University Press, Plovdiv, 88-92. (in Bulgarian)

List publications relating to historical/time-series data at the site.

Is biodiversity information available in electronic form? If so, what is the nature of the database (CD-ROM, web-site)?

• There is a possibility to copy data on CD-ROM. The information is entered in PCs.

What conservation legislation (national, European, international) is currently in place, how well is it implemented and how long will it last?

• Protected territory since the ratification of the Washington Convention for Nature Protection – 1941
• Nature Reserve – Decree of the Committee of the Forests No 358/05.02.1966
• Nature Reserve – extended, according to articles 16 and 22 of the Decree of Environmental Protection Committee N0 231/04.04.1980; state Newspaper:35/1980

How accessible is the location?

Is it limited seasonally (e.g. not accessible in winter)?

Is it accessible by car or by boat (indicate means of transport and distance from laboratory facilities in km)?

• The location is accessible by car and by boat throughout the year. Cape Kaliakra is situated at a distance 80 km (by car) from the Institute of Oceanology – Varna, where there are facilities for biodiversity research.

What is the status of local facilities:

Laboratory: The "Marine Biology and Ecology " department in the Institute of Oceanology, Varna is equipped with Olympus microscopes with suitable magnifications for taxonomic identification and counting of phytoplankton, zooplankton and zoobenthos. There are experts in all major taxonomic groups of phytoplankton, mezo- and macrozooplankton, macrozoobenthos, macrophytes and ichthyophauna.

Boats: Research ship "Academic". She is not very suitable for shallow coastal area sampling. Private boats and motor boats could be hired from the closest villages.

Are these facilities available for guest researchers?

YES - regarding the laboratory facilities. Guests can participate in the research cruises of ship "Academic" if funding is provided by some external project. Boat hires would be on the account of guest researcher.

What facilities are there for SCUBA diving?

• There are compressor, pressure chamber, SCUBA diving equipment and trained SCUBA divers.

What housing is available?

• Hotel accommodation in Kavarna and Varna towns is possible throughout the year, in Balgarevo village –during summer.

List the sources of funding currently in place specifically for biodiversity research at this site (from where and how much).

• No funding is currently allocated for biodiversity research at the site. There are annual cruises (sampling for zoobenthos, zooplankton, phytoplankton and chemistry) along a profile in front of cape Kaliakra but the reserve itself is not monitored.

List by name the persons currently involved in biodiversity research at this site, their roles and the percentage of their time spent on this research.

• No personnel are currently involved in biodiversity research at the site due to lack of funding.

Please use this section to add any additional supporting comments, for example what do you think is special about your site from the biodiversity point of view, why is it important to monitor biodiversity there, and what is the public awareness of this?

Cape Kaliakra is one of the symbols of the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. The site is famous both for its history and for its wild nature saved pristine throughout the ages. The reserve occupies 687,5 ha and besides the steppe areas includes cliffs up to 70 m high. Kaliakra is the only Bulgarian reserve protecting aquatic area too - a stretch of sea 500 m wide and 8 km long. The limestone is punched with caves – former refuges of the Monk Seal, now extinct from the Bulgarian coast.