Post by TheTravelBug on Jun 12, 2011 6:24:15 GMT
Sofia Echo - 10th June 2011
The company picked to build the Strouma motorway in the region between the town of Dupnitsa and Lower Dikanya in southwest Bulgaria will have to install fences in order to protect the local fauna from venturing onto the lanes, media reports said.
In particular, experts say that the fencing will help fend off rabbits and turtles from crossing the motorway and getting killed. Additionally, the local brown bear population and other mammals are also to be kept away from the lanes, while special overpasses will be constructed for bears to be able to cross, the report said.
Those conditions will have to met by the construction firm, if the motorway is going to adhere to European quality standards.
In spite of the good intentions, such man-made facilities are inevitably difficult to predict if they will be successful once installed. The Bulgarian state already funded the construction of a tunnel linking Bulgaria and Greece at the Ilinden and Exohi border crossing point, in order for bears to be able to pass from one country to another freely. The 60 million leva tunnel however, did not impress the bears themselves and it stands unused to this day.
Environmentalists want to ensure that animals and bears in particular will be able to cross from one mountain to another, and from Bulgaria to Greece freely. That way, the population of the brown bear and that of other animals in the region will be healthier, and they will not be isolated in pockets, Dimitar Ivanov from Four Paws told private television channel bTV.
Experts are still assessing the region surrounding Section 1 of the motorway and they are trying to determine where exactly are the bears and how many are they, in order to determine where and how to install the infrastructure.
Once constructed, the Strouma motorway will have a total length of 156km and will lead to the Greek-Bulgarian border at Koulata, as part of the E79 route.
The Bulgarian brown bear, Ursus arctos arctos, a subspecies of the brown bear Ursus arctos and found across northern Eurasia. The brown bear is also known as the "common brown bear", and colloquially by many other names.
The animal is widespread in Bulgaria. Bears are found on Vitosha Mountain close to Sofia, as well as Rila, Pirin, the Rhodopes mountains, the Lozenska Mountain and Bulgaria's spine, the massive Stara Planina range.
The Bulgarian brown bear is a protected species, and their killing is authorised only if they have been proven to attack humans.
The company picked to build the Strouma motorway in the region between the town of Dupnitsa and Lower Dikanya in southwest Bulgaria will have to install fences in order to protect the local fauna from venturing onto the lanes, media reports said.
In particular, experts say that the fencing will help fend off rabbits and turtles from crossing the motorway and getting killed. Additionally, the local brown bear population and other mammals are also to be kept away from the lanes, while special overpasses will be constructed for bears to be able to cross, the report said.
Those conditions will have to met by the construction firm, if the motorway is going to adhere to European quality standards.
In spite of the good intentions, such man-made facilities are inevitably difficult to predict if they will be successful once installed. The Bulgarian state already funded the construction of a tunnel linking Bulgaria and Greece at the Ilinden and Exohi border crossing point, in order for bears to be able to pass from one country to another freely. The 60 million leva tunnel however, did not impress the bears themselves and it stands unused to this day.
Environmentalists want to ensure that animals and bears in particular will be able to cross from one mountain to another, and from Bulgaria to Greece freely. That way, the population of the brown bear and that of other animals in the region will be healthier, and they will not be isolated in pockets, Dimitar Ivanov from Four Paws told private television channel bTV.
Experts are still assessing the region surrounding Section 1 of the motorway and they are trying to determine where exactly are the bears and how many are they, in order to determine where and how to install the infrastructure.
Once constructed, the Strouma motorway will have a total length of 156km and will lead to the Greek-Bulgarian border at Koulata, as part of the E79 route.
The Bulgarian brown bear, Ursus arctos arctos, a subspecies of the brown bear Ursus arctos and found across northern Eurasia. The brown bear is also known as the "common brown bear", and colloquially by many other names.
The animal is widespread in Bulgaria. Bears are found on Vitosha Mountain close to Sofia, as well as Rila, Pirin, the Rhodopes mountains, the Lozenska Mountain and Bulgaria's spine, the massive Stara Planina range.
The Bulgarian brown bear is a protected species, and their killing is authorised only if they have been proven to attack humans.