Bulgaria Newsflash Week 42
Why Bulgaria supports Global Methane Pledge? Where are the nitrate hot spots? Farm workers are on demand in Bulgaria! Good news: beavers are making a comeback to Bulgaria. Enjoy our latest Bulgaria Agri Newsflash!
Bulgaria supports Global Methane Pledge
Bulgarian Deputy Agriculture, Foods and Forestry Minister Krum Nedyalkov underscored the importance of implementing modern technologies and practices in agriculture with a potential for reducing methane emissions from production. “These are aimed primarily at improving the feeding of animals, the management of herd health and the new methods for storage and utilization of manure – production of biogas – as well as herd selection,” said the Minister at a video conference hosted by the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, and EC Vice President Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of the Global Methane Pledge. Bulgaria’s key priorities for reducing and optimizing the emissions in agriculture, as set in the integrated plan for energy and climate in 2021-2030, include:
➡ reducing methane emissions from the biological fermentation in animal husbandry;
➡improving manure management;
➡ improving the management of rice paddies and rice production technologies.
“Bulgaria supports the goals of the Global Methane Pledge and will assist in its further development and successful implementation,” Deputy Minister Nedyalkov said.
Bulgaria has hot spots of nitrate pollution
Bulgaria has hot spots where pollution with substances from agriculture needs to be urgently reduced. This transpires from the latest European Commission report on the implementation of the Directive concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. The report covers the period between 2016 and 2019. It concludes that where the national authorities and farmers comply with the directive, it has affected positively supply of potable water and biodiversity, as well as sectors such as fisheries and tourism, which depend on them. However, nitrates continue to cause water pollution in the EU. High nitrate levels in the water are harmful both for human health and for the environment. 12 countries face the biggest challenges in fighting pollution from agriculture. Along with six other countries, Bulgaria has hot spots where pollution needs to be urgently addressed, the Commission says.
Hunger for farm workers
Seasonal workers from third countries in Bulgaria have become fewer compared to a year earlier. Only 92 people obtained permits or seasonal work in agriculture, according to Employment Agency figures as of October 7 cited by Agri.bg. Thirty-one Bulgarian employers have submitted declarations that they are looking to hire workers from outside the EU. The majority of workers came from Ukraine (75) and Moldova (13). Two came from the Republic of North Macedonia and one each from Georgia and Turkey. The number of third-country workers was considerably higher: 388.
Beavers re-emerge in Bulgaria for the first time in more than a century
Two recent scientific publications report the re-emergence of beavers in the wild in Bulgaria after they were believed to have been extinct for over a century, Dnevnik says. Research data by Dr Kodjabashev and his team, published officially in September, report presence of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber Linnaeus, in the northeastern part of the Danube Plain some 25 km by air from the Danube near the river bed of the Russenski Lom River within the Lomovete site which is part of the Natura 2000 network of protected areas. After long-term monitoring of one individual in Northern Bulgaria, the team of Prof. Nachev from Shoumen University recorded the activity of the Eurasian beaver in this habitat. The Еurasian beaver used to be part of the Bulgarian fauna in the past but disappeared over 150 years ago. As it was considered extinct, it was left out of the Appendices to the national law for protection of biodiversity, which enlist the protected species as part of Natura 2000.