Atanasovsko Lake Reserve

Nine kilometer-long, super-salty Atanasovsko Lake is only 9km away from the coastal city of Burgas on the Southern Black sea. The lake is extremely rich in birds sheltering some 70% of Bulgaria’s bird species. Twelve of them are endangered on a world scale. Except for the birds, Atanasovsko Lake is home to over 230 higher plants and rare mammals. For 30 years now the territory of the lake has been a reserve.
In early September some 100 environment-friendly volunteers worked at the territory of the lake for 10 days. They built four nests for tarrocks and plovers, cleaned the dikes of vegetation and reeds in the protected area of Poda and celebrated the reserve’s 30th anniversary. Mariana Valcheva, one of the volunteers at the lake said:

“In the Year of Biodiversity, as 2010 has been declared, we maintain the Atanasovsko Lake Reserve, seeing it as a precious natural place. On the occasion of its 30th anniversary three organizations joint forces to offer the residents and guests of Burgas a more unconventional celebration. We wanted to turn people’s attention not only to the birds in the reserve, but also to its other natural resources, such as the therapeutic mud, lye and salt. Our celebration was a lot of fun. For instance, part of the participants depicted with their muddy bodies the figure of the Dalmatian pelican, which is the emblem of the Atanasovsko Lake Reserve. The lake is the richest bird habitat in Bulgaria and one of the few in Europe”, Mariana Valcheva said and added:

“The lake is one of the few protected areas in Bulgaria which has a management plan. The latter envisages the improvement of the reserve’s conditions and the protection of all birds in the area. A major threat to the birds are predators and people. The lake is very shallow with a depth of no more than 30 cm, which makes it very easily accessible. The ground-nesting birds often fall prey to predators, thus being unable to rear their offspring. Therefore, we build new nesting platforms and artificial islands every year. What is the result of our efforts? This year, for example, 300 tarrocks managed to rear their offspring on an artificial island we built. What is more, the second biggest migration route in Europe Via Pontica passes through the reserve. This is a real treasure for the city of Burgas, because its residents can observe the magnificent scene of migrating bird flocks”, Mariana Valcheva said in conclusion.



The autumn north-south migration of birds usually takes place in late August and early September, at which time environmentalists perform daily monitoring of the area. So far, over 20000 storks are reported to have flown over the reserve. A lot of birds living north of Bulgaria come to spend the winter in the Atanasovsko Lake Reserve, where a lot of food and nice habitation are to be found. Therefore, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds carry out winter bird counts every year. The Society is among the few NGOs with serious membership and structures across the country. Ever since its foundation in 1988, the organization has been working to protect Bulgaria’s birds and environment.