The Struma Motorway will pass outside of Kresna Gorge
Some incredibly good news from the past week is the successful resolution of Bulgaria’s longest campaign for environmental protection, which lasted almost 30 years. A press release from the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) announced that after the signing of an agreement between the Road Infrastructure Agency, MOEW, the Regional Inspection for Environment and Water — Blagoevgrad, and members of the Save Kresna Gorge Coalition, a consensus has been reached for the “lasting and complete removal of transit traffic out of Kresna Gorge and leaving road I-1 (E79) through the gorge as a local road.” While the agreement is a significant success, it is only one step towards solving the problem with removing traffic going through Kresna Gorge and the town of Kresna. A lot more work remains to be done on assessing alternatives and determining the new roadway in strict accordance with the law and the agreement.
For the National Museum of Natural Science, Sofia, the fight for protecting Kresna Gorge has been a cause from the very initiation of the idea to build a motorway through it. The foundations were placed by Prof. Stoyan Beshkov with his active participation in the European Parliament Commission, as well as by the Bern Convention. In support of the initiative, in 2001 the museum prepared the first tome of the Bulgarian Biodiversity series, which was dedicated to the unique biota of Kresna Gorge. The work was organised by DSc Petar Beron and Dr Aleksi Popov who, in just three months, put together an author collective and prepared for printing 31 articles on the fauna and flora of that region. This tome served to support our position against any kind of building activity in the region before the competent European authorities.
Many scientists from the museum have a role in today’s success, and we must especially note the names of Dr Petar Shurulinkov and Boyan Petrov, who were some of the main supporters of this cause from the very beginning, and even though they are no longer with us, this victory will always be linked to their names.
Why is protecting Kresna Gorge so important?
Aside from being part of the bird migration route Via Aristotelis and connecting the mountains along our border with North Macedonia to Pirin Mountain, research data shows that the biodiversity of Kresna Gorge is unique not only for Bulgaria, but for all of Europe. A large number of animal and plant species can only be found there, and some of them only exist immediately around the Struma river, which makes them especially vulnerable.
This is why scientists have been categorically certain that Kresna Gorge is the most significant and important zone of the country to protect. It is even now damaged by traffic, but it would be completely ruined if the motorway, or part of it, were to go through the area, which is why we have always insisted that the motorway should be build outside the gorge. This decision would cause the least damage to the environment, regarding which the museum’s scientists have repeatedly sent statements to various institutions.
