Central Balkan National Park

The Central Balkan National Park ( Bulgarian Национален парк Централен Балкан / National Park Central Balkan, German National Park Central Balkan ) is one of three national parks in Bulgaria, next to the National Park Pirin and the Rila National Park. The Central Balkan National Park is the only national park in the Balkan Mountains. It occupies the central and highest part. 21 019 ha of the core zone of the national park are certified as so-called " PAN Parks Wilderness Area " and belong to the Network of European Wildlife sanctuaries. The total area of the park is part of the Natura 2000 network.

Centuries-old forests of beech, spruce, fir, hornbeam and sessile oaks occupy a large part of the park. Grow in this National Park About half of occurring in Bulgaria plant species. Of these, 10 species and 2 subspecies are endemic and found nowhere else in the world. More than 130 higher plant and animal species that are found in the National Park are listed in the Bulgarian and the international Red List of endangered species. The park includes extensive summit and ridge meadows, vertical rock walls, cliffs, deep gorges, waterfalls, and numerous peaks, of which about 20 are higher than 2000 meters.

• 5.1 Mammals
• 5.2 amphibians

Location

The Central Balkan National Park occupies the central and highest part of the Balkan Mountains. It is 500 to 2376 meters above the sea level. The lowest part is located near the town of Karlovo. The highest part of the mountain forms Botev. On the territory of the national park includes the following nine nature reserves with a total area of ​​20,000 ha: boatin ( Bulg Боатин ) Zaritschina ( Bulg Царичина ) Kozja Stena ( Bulg Козя стена ) Steneto ( Bulg Стенето ) Seweren Dschendem ( bulg Северен Джендем ) Peeschti skali ( bulg Пеещи скали ) Sokolna ( bulg Соколна ) Dschendema ( bulg Джендема ) and Stara reka ( bulg Стара река ) ​​.

The park he takes a areas of eleven municipalities. These are located on the territory of the following five provinces / oblasts: Oblast Lovech, Gabrovo, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Sofia Province.

Main features and limitations

The Central Balkan National Park was established in 1991 and encompasses an area of ​​71669.5 hectares, of which 44000.8 ha forests. 70 percent of the area are natural ecosystems. The park is about 85 km long and 10 km wide. The park is the Usana region, which is the geographical center of Bulgaria.

Administratively, the park is divided into seven areas, with the Park Directorate is located in Gabrovo. In addition, the park is divided into five zones:

• Zone for tourism
• Zone for Reserves
• Zone for buildings and other installations
• Zone in which the human influence is limited
• Multifunctional zone

Waters

The Balkan Mountain ridge and form a boundary of the drainage areas of South and North Bulgaria. Some of the biggest rivers of the country have their origin in the National Park including the Wit, the Osam and the Rossiza from the northern part and the Topoliza that Strjama and Tundscha in the southern part of the mountain. Furthermore, many smaller rivers, streams and other tributaries before they merge their origin in the mountains in the lower parts with the larger ones.

Characteristic of this part of the mountains are the rapids, which make many of the waters. On the territory of the National Park are some of the largest and longest waterfalls ( Bulg водопад / wodopad ) Bulgaria, which carry the nickname praskalo ( Bulg пръскало ) in this part of the mountains. This epithet is derived from the local dialect dee Bulgarian language, which is spoken in the central part of the mountain. Some of the waterfalls are the Rajsko praskalo ( Bulg Райско пръскало ) with a height of 124.5 m, the Karlowsko praskalo ( Bulg Карловско пръскало ) with a height of 120 m, the Widimsko praskalo ( Bulg Видимско пръскало ) with a height of 80 m and the Kademlijsko praskalo ( bulg Кадемлийско пръскало ) with a height of 72 m. Here is the Rajsko praskalo waterfall, located at the foot of Mount Botev, the longest on the entire Balkan Peninsula.

Flora

The flora is versatile in the Central Balkan National Park. There about 2350 species and subspecies of plants have been documented, 170 of them are known as medicinal plants. To this end, there are 229 moss and 255 species of fungi.

Forests

The forest areas occupy 55 percent of the area of the national park and provide 1 percent of all forest land in Bulgaria; they are equally on the north and south sides of the mountain. In 97 percent of the forest land in the park is naturally grown forests with an average age of 115 years.

Fauna

The large area of the national park, as well as his relief, climate, and plant diversity contribute to that in the park a great diversity of living things is available.

On the territory of the national park in 2390 species and sub- species of invertebrates have been documented. 260 of them are among the most vulnerable in the world, 85 are only on the Balkan peninsula and 50 are endemic. Of the invertebrates, especially many beetle species are endangered, 35 of them are on the Red List. In addition to the invertebrates especially special measures for the protection of vertebrate animals in the park are taken.

Mammals

In the national park, 19 species of bats, inventoried 17 smaller and 16 larger mammals. All species of bats are an endangered species in Europe. Among the most widespread species include the Southern White -breasted Hedgehog and the European mole. Other mammals that occur in the National Park and were included in the Bulgarian Red List, the snow vole, the European ground squirrel, the squirrel, the tree sleeper and the Dormouse.

In almost all parts of the park ungulates are common, including deer and wild goats. Their number has fallen in recent years, however. Eleven species of carnivores live in the National Park: wolf, jackal, fox, brown bear ( in a separate reserve), weasel, polecat, stone marten, pine marten, otter, European badger and wildcat. Of particular interest is the otter, whose distribution in Bulgaria is very limited. The otters have been included in the Red List of Bulgaria and are considered endangered. The Park in the living population of wild cats is the largest in Southeastern Europe.

Amphibians

In the National Park 8 species of amphibians are found. A characteristic feature of the park, as well as for the whole Balkan Mountains are the fire salamander, the agile frog and common toads. In some parts of the toad and the European tree frog are found.

Summit

The highest mountains in the Central Balkan National Park are:

• Botev ( 2376 m)
• Triglaw ( 2275 m)
• Weschen ( 2198.1 m)
• Goljam Kupen ( 2169 m)
• Levski ( 2166 m)
• Malak Kupen (2100 m)
• Paskal ( 2029 m)

Tourism and mountain huts National Park

The park offers several hiking trails. The mountain trail Kom - Emine, who is part of the European long-distance route E3, runs east-west direction along the ridge of the Balkan Mountains in the national park. In recent years, 10 horse trails and some mountain bike trails have been established. The roads and paths have been created by the park management so that they can be reached through the historical, cultural and environmental attractions of the park and the surrounding area. The Right is limited in the park area and completely abolished in some areas, the fires as well as camping is permitted only at the marked points. The fishing in the waters is prohibited.

On the territory of the National Park and in the immediate vicinity are several mountain huts and refuges, and mountain inns and hotels that offer a total of over 1400 beds. The following 22 mountain huts, with a total of 250 beds lie within the National Park and are managed by the Bulgarian Tourist board:

• Ambaritsa 1503 m
• Benkowski, 1540 m
• Balkanski Rosi, 1100 m
• Chubawez, 964 m
• Chajduschka Pesen, 870 m
• Dermenka, 1530m
• Dobrila, 1750
• Echo, 1700 m
• Komizki WALOG, 1800 m
• Kozya Stena, 1560
• Mazalat, 1520 m
• Momina Polyana, 1740m
• Pleven, 1504 m
• Raj, 1560 m
• Rawnez, 1250 m
• Rusalka, 1110 m
• Mountain hut Sokolna, 1400 m
• Sweschen, 1050 m
• Switschi plaz, 1580 m
• Tascha, 1520 m
• Vasil Levski, 1450 m
• Weschen, 1650 m