Srebarna Nature Reserve
The biosphere reserve Srebarna located on the Danube River, in northeastern Bulgaria, 17 km west of Silistra. It extends over 900 hectares on which breed 99 species of birds and 80 species of migratory birds overwinter.
History
Already in 1942 the Srebarna lake was at the national level to the bird sanctuary and declared a nature reserve in 1948. In 1973 the Declaration was followed by the wetland of international importance, and in 1977 the area was first recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere. A buffer zone was created in 1983 as a protection around the lake, the same year we also saw the inclusion in the list of World Natural Heritage by UNESCO. The construction of a dam upstream of the Danube led to the gradual dehydration, because the annual flooding failed to materialize. This meant that the biosphere reserve was listed from 1992 to 2002 as a world heritage in danger because, among other things, a significant decrease of the pelican population was recorded.
Location
The Srebarna Lake is located in the river valleys one kilometer south of the Danube, which forms a natural border with neighboring Romania, and 19 km from Silistra. The exact geo-coordinates are: 44 ° 07'N, 27 ° 04'E. The protected area covers an area of 902 hectares and is on average 10 to 13 meters above the sea level. The lake covers an area of 120 acres of open water and also includes 400 hectares of reed beds. It is up to 3.3 meters deep.
Flora
The biosphere reserve Srebarna belongs biogeographically to the central European forest area. For landscape include standing waters with aquatic vegetation, marsh, reed beds, wetlands, meadows and poplar stock. The most abundant species is the reed (Phragmites australis), further also white water lily of genus Nymphaea alba and various willow species are present. In total the Biosphere 2 international and 11 national threatened plant species.
Fauna
Since the Biosphere Reserve Srebarna located on the eastern migration route of migratory birds, the '' Via pontica '' that leads to so-called western Black Sea coast over a very diverse avifauna is not surprising. There are 233 different species of birds represented, of which 80 are migratory and 99 breed on site. The latter include the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus, 10 % of the world's population can be found here ), the cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), the Ferruginous Duck ( Aythya nyroca ) and the Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis ). Also, various species of herons such as the Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax ) and for the little bittern ( Ixobrychus minutus) find a hotbed here. 12 international and 57 national endangered species of birds are found on Srebarna Lake.
In addition to countless species of birds, there are 41 mammal species, 18 fish, 15 reptiles and 12 amphibians.
Access
The visit of the biosphere reserve is strictly forbidden, including fishing and hunting are not permitted. The entire area is enclosed by a fence. A Natural History Museum, part of the reserve receives annually about 15,000 visitors.