Cape Kaliakra /meaning Beautiful Cape, Greek/ is situated some 70 km to the northeast of the Black Sea port city of Varna. The beautiful natural and archaeological reserve is one of the Top 100 National Tourist Sites. It is also the home of rare and endangered plant and animal species – Kaliakra is the only important place in Bulgaria in terms of ornithology with remains of the Dobrudja plain and the largest coastal rocky massifs preserved in this country. A total of 310 bird species nest here, data of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds show and 100 of those require special measures for the protection of their habitats under the Biological Diversity Act. On the territory of Kaliakra there are 40 rare, endangered and endemic plant species, 8 of those are endangered or rare in Europe, 20 having been included in Bulgaria’s Red Book and 10 have the status of endangered ones. The second largest migration route in Europe – Via Pontica crosses the place. Each autumn numerous flocks of birds, quails, including the globally endangered corn crake /Crex crex/ stop here to rest and feed.

Despite its unique nature and rich cultural and historical heritage, the spot has been turned into a huge wind farm, chasing away not only birds, but also tourists. According to a representative study within Europe each wind generator kills 4 – 43 birds per year. Ornithologists say that in case the victims are endangered species’ representatives, the numbers are too high:

“As early as 2003, when they started to talk about a new wind farm, we explained the high level of risk, since birds there fly low and stay longer”, says Irina Mateva from the BSPB. “That was the spot where in 2010, due to bad weather conditions, a Griffon Vulture from the Crimean population fell victim to one of the wind generators’ propellers.”

Surveys across other European countries show that tourism revenues drop drastically by some 40 percent in wind farm areas. The facilities also have their impact on the psychics and health of a person due to the electromagnetic waves. That was why the inhabitants of the nearby village of Balgarevo protested together with NGOs against the construction of the electric appliances. However, all these efforts failed to prevent the construction of the wind farm. So, the BSPB and 12 other organizations and civil associations from the For the Nature Coalition submitted in 2008 their complaint at the EC, claiming the violation of three EU directives: for birds, habitats and for the assessment of the environmental impact.

“Last winter /mid-January 2016/ the European court ruled that Bulgaria had violated the European environmental legislation, both in terms of the construction of wind generators and also due to the lack of measures taken for the protection of the species and habitats at the construction of the Thracian Rocks golf playground,” Irina Mateeva goes on to say. “If this state doesn’t take the measures necessary to comply with the European legislation, financial sanctions shall be imposed. To top it all, according to public information the state subsidizes the green energy produced. The birds and local people are now suffering from the idleness of the government. A second rule of the court will affect all Bulgarian tax payers.”

If we talk about balance between the investment plans for economic development and environmental protection, then nature is not in favorable position in this case. The economic growth that we strive for will at one point destroy nature and will turn against the interests of people. Then finally we will have to pay for energy which not only causes suffering to birds, but we will also pay for the wrong positioning of its sources.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev