Bulgarian National Annual Report on Integrated Coastal

Bulgarian National Annual Report on Integrated
Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) – 2013
Coordinated by Lyudmil Ikonomov,
National Focal Point for Bulgaria in the ICZM Advisory Group
to the Black Sea Commission
INTRODIUCTION The data on the ICZM indicators presented in the spreadsheet reporting format includes information
about the 16 municipalities bordering directly the Black Sea or water bodies, connected to it (i.e., the
Lakes of Varna and Beloslav, the Burgas Lakes, etc.). These 16 municipalities are located in 3
separate administrative districts, as follows:

District of Dobrich: Municipalities of Shabla, Kavarna and Balchik;

District of Varna: Municipalities of Aksakovo, Varna, Devnya, Beloslav, Avren, Dolni
Chiflik, Byala.

District of Burgas: Municipalities of Nessebar, Pomorie, Burgas, Sozopol, Primorsko,
Tsarevo.
Boundaries of the Bulgarian Administrative Districts
1
The main sources of information used as a basis for this Report are the Regional Statistics Yearbooks
for the above districts, published by the National Statistical Institute’s Territorial Bureaus in Dobrich,
Varna and Burgas (see the map below). The information on some of the indicators in the report is
provided at municipal level, and some - only at district level, due to availability of data in the NSI
database, used as a source.
Municipalities bordering the Black Sea and coastal lakes
For the purposes of integrated coastal zone management it might be a better practice to collect the
information at the level of the Black Sea River-Basin Region in its boundaries (see the figure below),
as defined in its Black Sea River Basin Management Plan, adopted in March 2010. In order to
achieve that, other possible information sources should be explored, because the currently used NSI
2
reports do not provide data on such level. The data in these reports is based on the administrative
units (data at municipal or at district level) and the boundaries of the Black Sea River-Basin Region on
the other hand are established on territorial basis (covering parts of administrative districts and parts
of municipalities according to the river catchment areas).
Boundaries of the Bulgarian Black Sea Basin
The 2013 Report includes data with relevance up to 2011 (and for some parameters up to 2012) which
is the regular time-lag of publishing statistical data by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute. The
statistical information for 2012 and 2013 is still under preparation and will be published respectively in
2014 and 2015.
In order to avoid differences in the reports the data in the columns for previous years (2009 - 2011)
was updated using the same sources of information as the data for 2011 - the Statistical District
Reviews for the Districts of Dobrich, Varna and Burgas, published in 2012. The data regarding the
protected areas (territories) and protected zones (NATURA 2000) was updated according to the online
3
register managed by the Executive Environmental Agency. The following official reports have been
used:

National Statistical Institute, Territorial Statistics Bureaus in Varna, Dobrich and Burgas,
Statistical District Reviews for 2011 of Varna, Dobrich and Burgas Districts, published in
2012 (containing data with relevance up to 2010);

National Statistical Institute, Statistical Yearbook 2012 of Republic of Bulgaria,
published in 2013;

Data, published on the Official Natura 2000 web page: http://natura2000bg.org/ ;

Executive Environmental Agency, Register of the Protected Areas and the Protected Zones
in Bulgaria (online database): http:// http://pdbase.government.bg/zpo/bg/index.jsp ;

Data, published on the official web page of the Union of the Bulgarian Black Sea Local
Authorities (UBBSLA): http://ubbsla.org/en/index.html
Besides the official reports two specialised publications with a focus on the local factors of climate
change have also been used:

Celebrating World Water Day on March 22 and World Meteorology Day on 23 March
2012; Press conference: National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, BAS, Varna
Branch., Dr. Ivan Ivanov; Varna, 2012.
The information in this Report (including the data for previous years) is updated, according to the most
recent sources available.
The major difficulties in gathering and systemizing the available data are explained in the text bellow.
LEGISLATION The two main Bulgarian legal acts which regulate the management of the coastal zone are the
Bulgarian Law for Spatial Planning of the Black Sea Coast and the Bulgarian Spatial Planning Act. In
2012 some important amendments related to the coastal zone have been adopted, namely,
requirements to the municipal spatial and land-use plans to include regulations and conservation
measures for the coastal water-area as well.
Another key legal document related with the regulation of the activities in the coastal zone trough
measures for integrated water management is the Water Act (Prom. SG. 67/27 Jul 1999). According to
the requirements of the Act, the territory (and the aquatic areas) of Bulgaria are divided into river
basins as a basic unit for integrated water management, each of them having their own management
structure and their own management plan. In 2012 the Water Act was amended with a requirement for
the Minister of Environment and Waters to participate in the National Council for Spatial Planning
when spatial plans concerning coastal zones, coastal biodiversity and coastal infrastructure will be
discussed and approved.
The Water Management Plan for the Black Sea River-Basin Management Region was adopted in
2010 by the Order of the Minister of Environment and Waters (No.РД-294, of 22.03.2010). The Plan is
the main inter-sectoral strategic tool for water management in Bulgaria. It includes a set of measures
(Programme of Measures) for water protection and restoration, most of which are related to the
activities still to be implemented in the coastal zone, thus setting the frame for integrated coastal zone
management in Bulgaria.
4
In accordance with Directive 2007/60/EC (the “Flood Directive”) and with Chapter 9 of the Bulgarian
Water Act 2012 a Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment has been prepared by the Black Sea Basin
Directorate. The Preliminary Assessment describes the areas in which significant floods have
occurred in the past causing damage to the real property, technical infrastructure and to human
health. It contains maps in GIS format of the floods, the rate and direction of flood wave propagation
and the duration of the flood events. The Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment is the first stage of the
future Flood Risk Management Plan of the Bulgarian Black Sea River Basin.
POPULATION AND GEOGRAPHY The information in the “Population and Geography” sector is calculated on the basis of data acquired
at the municipal level.
Administrative organization of
the coastal zone
2006
2007
2008
2009
a) total no. of cities
21
21
21
21
b) no of cities over
100 000 inhabitants
2
2
2
c) no of cities over
1000 000 inhabitants
0
0
d) total no of rural
settlements
192
Total inland area of coastal
zone (km2)
2010
2011
2012
21
21
21
2
2
3
2
0
0
0
0
0
192
192
192
192
192
192
5951,3
5951,3
5951,3
5951,3
5951,3
5951,3
5951,3
Estimated territory of Zone A
2
and Zone B (km )
1144
1144
1144
1144
1144
1144
1144
Total sea area of coastal zone
(km2)
~ 109
~ 109
~ 109
~ 109
~ 109
~ 109
~ 109
Unfortunately, no Information is available about the population with the requested level of details
(neither at municipal, nor at regional level) for the following indicators:

population density in and out of the tourist season

total level of morbidity

average age of population

children under 18

net migration rate
5
Population
Number of population
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
721 181
727 430
733 065
N/A
N/A
746 923
834 475
2
121,18
122,23
123,18
N/A
N/A
125,5
140,21
a) out of the touristic season
inhabitant/km2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
b) in the touristic season
inhabitant/km2
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Birth rates (persons / thousand)
11,1
11,7
11,486
10,56
10,3
10,51
10,672
Mortality (persons / thousand)
14,5
14,5
14,486
14,38
13,7
14,11
9,455
Morbidity (persons / thousand)
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Population density in coastal
regions
No
inhabitant/km
Working people
No
253 730
271 360
280 818
288 979
244 236
242 513
139 170
Rate of unemployment
No
N/A
N/A
50 464
52 414
N/A
59 000
70 100
Retired people
No
135 350
138 420
136 569
137 204
N/A
139 798
N/A
years
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
41,8
Children under 18 years old
No
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
126 702
Population growth (natural
increase, natural decrease)
rate per 1000
inhabitatnts
- 3,5
- 2,8
-2,7
-3,06
-3,16
-4,14
-4,07
Net migration rate
%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
0,169
Urbanization Rate
%
72,1
72,1
73,2
73,4
N/A
75,9
75,87
Rural/urban residence ratio
(average value, based on the
data for the whole Districts of
Varna Burgas and Dobrich)
%
72,1:27,9 72,1:27,9 73,2:26,8 74,4:26,6
N/A
Average age of population
6
75,9:24,1 75,9:24,1
Where possible a generalised number or similar indicators are provided. Urbanisation Rate is provided
as generalized rates based on district and municipal level information.
Land Use
Total land funds use
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
ha
a) agriculture areas
ha
1008384,7
1008384,7
1008384,7
1008384,7
1008384,7
1008384,7
1008384,7
b) forest and other
forest vegetation lands
ha
478701,6
478701,6
478701,6
478701,6
478701,6
478701,6
478701,6
c) waters and ponds
ha
27735,4
27735,4
27735,4
27735,4
27735,4
27735,4
27735,4
d) wetlands
ha
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1992,804
1992,804
1992,804
e) beaches (area)
ha
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
General land use change
%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
The information on land-use was available as per 2000, because the specialised survey took place in
that year. The Information is available at district level and includes the whole territory of the three
Administrative Districts (Dobrich, Varna and Bourgas).
Social Status
Unemployment rate
Average net monthly
earnings
2006
%
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
5,6
3,83
5,57
15,2
N/A
13,47
14,43
342,42
400,81
477,196
505,25
278,52
376,3
317,33
BGN
(1.95583 BGN
= 1 EUR)
7
ENERGY The requested information, related to the energy sector was not available in any of the available
information sources. None of the central and local authorities issuing permits to wind farms and to
other types of power plants producing electricity from renewable sources of energy maintains a
publicly available data base of the exact number of wind turbines and solar panels in the coastal area.
According to a letter from the Regional Environmental Inspectorate in Varna, in October 2012, in the
North-East part of Bulgaria have been installed totally 225 wind turbines but it is not clear how many of
them are installed in the coastal municipalities. Very few wind turbines (not more than 20) are reported
to have been installed in the area controlled by the Regional Environmental Inspectorate in Bourgas.
WATER AND WASTEWATER Most of the data was not available at local level but only for the whole administrative districts. In
particular, there is no available official and publicly accessible data on the following indicators:

No of localities with public sewage network system

Length of drinking water supply network

Population connected to WWTP (total rural + urban)
Water and Waste Water
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Public sewage network
system
No of
localities
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Drinking water supply
network (almost 100% have
clean drinking water supply)
No of
localities
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Volume of drinking water
supplied to consumers
(totally for the 3 Districts)
m
3
N/A
N/A
N/A
43351111
N/A
45669000
N/A
Population with access to
clean drinking water
No
99,97%
99,975%
99,975%
99,975%
99,975%
99,975%
99,975%
Length of drinking water
supply network
km
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Population connected to
WWTP (total rural+urban)
%
73,8%
74,1%
74,3%
75%
N/A
75,7%
N/A
The information about the general quantities of discharged water is available at district level. It is
collected separately by types of treatment (mechanical, biological and untreated waters discharged).
8
BIODIVERSITY Data on Biodiversity is acquired from the following information sources:

Executive Environmental Agency, Register of the Protected Areas and the Protected
Zones in Bulgaria (online database): http://pdbase.government.bg/zpo/bg/index.jsp;

Data, published on the Official Natura 2000 web site: http://natura2000bg.org/ .
The presented information on the Bulgarian NATURA 2000 zones is related only to the territory of the
coastal municipalities bordering the Black Sea and the coastal lakes. Both Directives (on Birds and
Habitats) have been taken into account and all on- and off-shore parts of the protected zones have
been included in the analysis.
The maps below show the parts of the NATURA 2000 zones which fall within the boundaries of the
coastal municipalities. The NATURA 2000 zones are determined in accordance with the Bulgarian
National Act for Protection of the Biological Diversity. This Act incorporated the requirements and the
regulation of the Bird and Habitat Directives into the national legislation.
Maps of the Bulgarian NATURA 2000 coastal zones under Directive 79/409/EC (Birds Directive)
and under Directive 92/43/EC (Habitats Directive)
9
The following map shows the territories protected in accordance with the Bulgarian Act for Protected
Territories which fall within the boundaries of the coastal municipalities. These territories are much
smaller than the NATURA 2000 zones but they are of much higher conservation value, therefore, the
Act for Protected Territories provides a higher level of protection compared to the Law for
Protection of the Biological Diversity.
Map of protected areas bordering directly the Black Sea or water bodies
10
2010
2011
2012
Biodiversity
Comments
Green areas (ha)
Number of natural
(parks) reserves
and their areas
(No, ha)
Number of Natura
2000 site and their
areas (No, ha)
Number of marine
protected sites
and their areas
(No, ha)
N/A
86
Comments
N/A
51 Protected sites; 21
Natural Monuments; 2
Natural Parks; 6
Reserves and 6
Managed Nature
Reserves. Total area of
all Protected territories 135702,3 Ha
86
19 protected zones
under the Birds
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
412739.27 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 379892.56
ha; 3) Total water area:
32846.67 ha;
47
N/A
51 Protected sites; 21
Natural Monuments; 2
Natural Parks; 6
Reserves and 6
Managed Nature
Reserves. Total area of
all Protected territories 135702,3 Ha
86
19 protected zones
under the Birds
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
412739.27 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 379892.56
ha; 3) Total water area:
32846.67 ha;
47
And 28 protected zones
under the Habitat
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
377983.92 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 316878.8
ha; 3) Total water area:
61105.05 ha;
As parts of the
mentioned above Natura
2000 protected territories
marine only water are is
as follows:
N/A 1) 61390.5196998163
ha under the Habitat
Directive; and
2) 55265.8319349708
ha under the Birds
Directive
Comments
19 protected zones
under the Birds
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
412739.27 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 379892.56
ha; 3) Total water area:
32846.67 ha;
47
And 28 protected zones
under the Habitat
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
377983.92 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 316878.8
ha; 3) Total water area:
61105.05 ha;
N/A
51 Protected sites; 21
Natural Monuments; 2
Natural Parks; 6
Reserves and 6
Managed Nature
Reserves. Total area of
all Protected territories 135702,3 Ha
As parts of the
mentioned above Natura
2000 protected territories
marine only water are is
as follows:
1) 61390.5196998163
ha under the Habitat
Directive; and
2) 55265.8319349708
ha under the Birds
Directive
And 28 protected zones
under the Habitat
Directive: 1) Total area
(not only in the coastal
municipalities):
377983.92 ha; 2) Total
inland area: 316878.8
ha; 3) Total water area:
61105.05 ha;
As parts of the
mentioned above Natura
2000 protected territories
marine only water are is
as follows:
N/A 1) 61390.5196998163
ha under the Habitat
Directive; and
2) 55265.8319349708
ha under the Birds
Directive
Data on the “Green areas” was not available.
There is no information on any new protected areas having been proclaimed in the coastal area in
2008 – 2012. The source used for the Report for 2013 is the official Register of the Protected Areas
and the Protected Zones in Bulgaria which is the most authoritative source of this kind of information.
11
COASTAL EROSION The Statistical yearbooks do not have any information related to coastal erosion. The quoted number
(13% of the coastal area) is provided from a specialized report, published in 2005 and does not
necessarily reflect the exact current value.
2005
2011
2012
Coastal Erosion
Comments
Comments
N/A (lanslides and
erosion terraces cover
about 13% of the
N/A coastal line, according
to the available
geographical
information)
Number of sites
vulnerable to
erosion (No)
N/A
N/A (lanslides and
erosion terraces cover
about 13% of the
coastal line, according
to the available
geographical
information)
Comments
N/A (lanslides and
erosion terraces cover
about 13% of the
N/A coastal line, according
to the available
geographical
information)
ECONOMY Data on Regional gross domestic product has not been provided by the Regional Statistical Bureaus
in Dobrich, Varna and Bourgas for the years of 2010 and 2012. Data was available at the national
level but it wouldn’t reflect correctly the situation in the coastal zone, therefore it was not quoted in the
table below.
Economy
Regional gross
domestic product
(data is available at
District level in total
for the Districts of
Varna, Burgas and
Dobrich)
Thou. EUR
GDP growth
%
change/year
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
*6 003 726
*6 763 279
*7 621 725
*7 802 305
N/A
8 052 862
N/A
*data for
2005
*data for
2006
*data for
2007
*data for
2009
N/A
*data for
2011
N/A
13,59
11,26
11,27
10,24
N/A
10,32
N/A
N/A
*2009-2011
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
*2004-2005 *2005-2006 *2006-2007 *2008-2009
Sectoral distribution
of GDP
%
N/A
N/A
N/A
12
N/A
TOURISM The quoted NSI Reports provide information mainly at district level but it is believed that in the Districts
of Dobrich, Varna and Bourgas seaside tourism and congress tourism comprise nearly 100% of all
types of tourism being practiced in the coastal zone. Information on “Number of touristic arrivals”,
“Number of tourist facilities conducting ecological audit”, “Number of Tourist Companies Promoting
Green Tourism” is not available.
Tourism
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
182 689
191 425
184 588
182 580
182 580
183 600
204 593
No. / year
1 759
1 842
1 576
1 595
1 595
1595
1043
a) National
No. / year
523 808
579 735
659 469
602 299
N/A
684 329
744 384
b) From abroad
No. / year
1 330 107
401 050
1 363 388
1 267 023
N/A
1 434 580
1 688 338
Touristic
accommodation
capacities
Touristic
accommodation units in
coastal zone
Places / year
Number of tourist
arrivals
Number of tourist
facilities conducting
ecological audit
No.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Number of Tourist
Companies Promoting
GreenTourism
No.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Number of "Blue Flag"
Beaches
No.
11
10
9
11
11
12
11
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
8 m /person
for marine
beaches and
12 m2/person
for beaches
larger than
2
100 000 m
2
Carrying capacity of
beaches
Number of tourist
staying overnight
Value of tourist
expenditures
2
m / person
No. / year
MEUR
2
2
2
2
2
12 333 332 12 292 124 12 152 281 10 035 438 11 218 139 12 352 633 13 897 502
329.096
381.813
232.694
210.318
210.302
240.724
Evidently, the annual values of some parameters (like “accommodation units” for instance) indicate a
more substantial variation in the last years not only because of the actual changes of the numbers but
also due to improving the quality of data collection and due to the refining of the statistical processing
techniques.
2
13
279.325
HEALTH As in all previous indicators, the data provided by the NSI for the health care units is given again on a
district basis. Information is available only for year 2010.
Health
No of sanitary units
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
32
34
40
41
44
44
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT The number of landfills in 2006 was taken from a report named “Assessment on the impacts of
landfills”, published Varna, 2006. The data for 2007-2011 was taken from the NSI yearbooks. The NSI
statistical yearbooks, however, do not provide information on the number of existing incinerators and
their capacity. This information was acquired from the Executive Environmental Agency of the Ministry
of Environment and Waters
Solid Waste Management
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Industrial wastes
tonnes/year
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Hazardous industial
wastes (estimated value)
tonnes/year
N/A
662
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Municipal wastes (totally
for the Districts of Varna,
Burgas and Dobrich)
tonnes/year
550 000
572 000
596 000
508 000
501 000
423 000
N/A
Number of landfills (totally
for the Districts of Varna,
Burgas and Dobrich)
no.
34
33
31
31
30
31
N/A
Total capacity of landfills*
tonnes/year
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1 755 011 1 481 055 1 197 883 2 697 715 2 375 764 1 354 562
N/A
Remaining capacity of
landfills**
m3
Number of incineration
plants
no.
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
24
24
tonnes/year
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Total capacity of
inceneration plants
*
The indicator “Total Capacity of Landfills” measured in tonnes/year does not seem very logical because
the land filling capacity is usually considered an available free volume, measured in cubic metres;
** Regulation 2150/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council defines the parameter
“Capacity of Landfills” [m3] as the remaining capacity (at the end of the data reference year) of the
landfill facility to dispose of waste in the future. Therefore, we suggest using the indicator “Remaining
Capacity of Landfills” [m3] instead of “Total Capacity of Landfills” [t/year] because it gives a much
better idea of the preparedness of the local authority to cope with municipal wastes in the near future;
14
Due to changes in the data collection and processing methodology, NSI have made a revision of their
data published earlier for the municipal wastes disposed of at landfills for the years of 2004, 2005,
2006 and 2007. The table above contains the revised data.
AGRICULTURE Adequate information on the requested indicators in the “Agriculture” Sector was not available in any
of the statistical yearbooks. Information was either at district and regional level only, or outdated.
Information on “Total area of agricultural land” is available only for those areas which are in use.
Information on the level of application of pesticides and fertilizers is not available. Data on livestock
breeding was not available for all three coastal administrative districts.
INDUSTRY The data provided in the NSI yearbooks was given at a district level only and did not include the
numbers of industrial enterprises.
The regional bureaus of NSI have not published their results for 2012, therefore, the industrial output
for 2012 has been estimated on the basis of the indices of industrial output for June 2013 given by NSI
for the country as a whole. These indices were based on the industrial output of 2010 accepted as 100%.
Industry
2008
Number of metallurgic enterprises
2009
2010
2011
2012
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
458 931
423 114
371 497
382 699
325 431
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
219 198
222 784
114 548
133 567
115 636
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
701 446
723 346
663 721
698 864
730 425
1
1
1
1
1
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Thou. BGN
Total production of metallurgic enterprises
(1.95583 BGN
= 1 EUR)
Number of textile enterprises
Total production of textile enterprises
Thou. BGN
Number of food processing enterprises
Total production of food processing
enterprises
Thou. BGN
Number of refineries
Total production of refineries
Thou. BGN
15
TRANSPORT The exact information on the requested indicators in the “Transport” Sector was not available in any of
the statistical yearbooks. The only information available is about the “Number of harbours” and the
“Number of oil terminals”.
Transport
2009
2010
2011
2012
No of airports
N/A
6
6
6
Length of rail ways (km)
437
437
437
437
No of harbours
N/A
23
23
23
Available information was mainly at district and regional level. The data includes numbers of
passengers by types of transports and categories of roads by district.
CLIMATE CHANGE Data was available only for the levels of precipitation among the requested parameters. Data is
available again at the District level however as a generalized number it could as well be applied at
local level.
The data received from the Varna Branch of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology
shows the monthly variations of precipitation and sunshine for 2012:
Climate
Precipitations
Sunshine
2009
2011
2010
2012
mm per year
407
753,33
651
568,9
hours per year
N/A
N/A
N/A
2655,33
The data from the publication of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (NIMH) which has
been referred to in the reference list gives information on the monthly variations of temperature and
precipitation for the last 18 years, although the time series for reliable assessment of changes in local
climate normally covers a period of no less than 30 years.
The data for the yearly variations of air temperature for the Region of Varna, presented by NIMH,
shows that during the last 18 years the annual mean temperatures for some years, and for the period
of 1992-2011 as a whole, are higher compared to the ‘climatic norm’ which was 12C for 1961-1990
(the straight pink line). This difference is between 0 C and 1.5 C (see the diagram below) and cannot
cause alone significant changes in the amount of precipitation and the hydrological regime of
watershed of the Black Sea Basin and in the behaviour of the biodiversity.
16
The annual variations of precipitation for the period 1992-2011 are close to or a bit higher than the
statistical “norm” for 1961-1990 and reveal some changes from year to year. It is obvious that some
years are wetter or drier than others but no symptoms of forthcoming long dry periods have been
observed (see the figure below).
17
The monthly variations of temperature show that from January till October the temperatures during
1992-2012 have been higher than in 1961-1990. 14 years of the last 20 have higher average annual
temperature, which is 12 ° C. Year of 2007 has the highest temperatures. The lowest temperature for
the last 20 years was measured on 25 January 2010 -17,8 ° C, and the highest one was measured in
the summer of 2004 and 2007 (40 °C) (see the diagram below).
The amount of precipitation over the past year exceeds by more than 100 liters the “climatic norm” but
was distributed extremely unevenly. In some of the months there was no rain at all. Even though the
year 2011 was considered relatively dry, it was marked by the maximum daily precipitation of 103 mm on
18th October 2011. October was also the wettest month with a maximum monthly amount of 212 mm.
18
The change of the frequency and the intensity of the extreme meteorological events appear to be of
utmost importance. They have the following impact on the Bulgarian coastal zone:
1) The changes in the variation of precipitation (already registered by NIMH) are causing
heavy rains, increased surface run-off and eventually, heavy floods. For the time being in
Varna and in Burgas have been registered only small and middle-size floods;
2) The changes of wind direction and speed caused by the changes of temperature are
leading to increased intensity and frequency of storm conditions which in their turn will
increase the intensity of the coastal beach erosion;
3) The expected rise of water level with 1 cm will lead to loss of the width of the beaches
roughly by 1 m.
All these changes are causing indirect impact on biodiversity and human health but the economic
consequences are felt first.
In the summer of 2013 several forest fires occurred in the coastal area of the country. Before 2013
forest fires have been occurring every year in many different places in Bulgaria but not in the coastal
zone where the high air humidity used to prevent them. The sharpening of climate change and the
exceptionally hot temperatures and the lack of rain throughput the whole summer period of 2013
overcame the natural preventive mechanisms and brought forest fires for the first time into the area.
This new phenomenon for the coastal zone associated with climate change caused material damage
and threatened biodiversity and human health. One of the summer fires which burst in the outskirts of
Varna affected directly the houses and the gardens of the people who lived there and caused an
extremely complicated and dangerous situation.
19
CONCLUSIONS The data collected and analyzed by the National Statistics Institute and its regional branches follows
the administrative structure of the country. As a result most of the publicly available information is
provided at national, regional (planning regions) and/or district level and very little data is given at local
(municipal) level. On the other hand the Bulgarian Black Sea Coastal Zone is defined (by the
Bulgarian Law for Spatial Planning of the Black Sea Coast) as the area enclosed between the beach
line and another imaginary line on the shore, lying at a specific distance from the beach. The
boundaries of the coastal zone do not coincide with the administrative boundaries or the river basin
boundaries. This causes difficulties in analysing the tendencies and planning specific activities
oriented at protecting the Black Sea environment.
With respect to the climate change information, there are several specific needs which have to be met:

There is an obvious need to identify the climate parameters which appear to be a direct results
of the Global Climate Change in the Bulgarian Black Sea coastal zone;

There is a necessity of an adequate description of the results and the primary and secondary
impacts of the Global Climate Change;

There is a need of filling the data gap on sea level rise;

New phenomena associated with climate change like forest fires occurred for the first time in
the coastal zone in 2013;

The overall condition and the drainage capacity of the coastal systems of rivers, gullies and
gulches have to be evaluated in order to assess the risk of flooding and occurrence of
secondary disaster effects such as activating land-slides and land-falls in extreme weather
conditions;

Territorial strategies for the coastal zones must be developed for adapting to the conditions of
climate change which may include measures like building floodgates on big gulches and
gullies, designation of buffer areas for controlled flooding and retention of flood waves,
designing new wetlands, etc.
20

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