In Bulgaria, we celebrate yesterday's European Day of Parks on May 28

The European Day of Parks, May 24, is announced by the European Federation of National and Natural Parks EUROPARC. The initiative was launched in 1999 and aims to create in people the feeling of closeness to nature, to increase public understanding of the importance of natural ecosystems preserved in protected areas. The chosen date is related to May 24, 1909, when the first nine national parks in Europe were established in Sweden.

The benefits that parks and protected areas bring go beyond the implementation of global, national or even regional nature policies. These territories protect some of the most remarkable and emblematic natural areas and preserved nature in Europe. Every day they provide us with clean water, air and places to rest, while promoting sustainable regional development and benefits for local communities, recalls the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The EUROPARC federation calls on all institutions, organizations and individuals involved in nature conservation to organize events around May 24, 2024, to demonstrate the role of protected areas.

The Ministry of Environment and Water designates May 28 as Parks Day in Bulgaria. Thus, it is possible to fully celebrate the importance of the natural and national parks without duplication with the celebrations on the occasion of the Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture.

With this year's Day of Parks in Bulgaria, we appreciate the "bridges" built by the protected areas that connect people with nature in a sustainable way in a harmonious coexistence. The celebration contributes to international policy decisions and agreements reaching local communities and to improve understanding of the benefits of being close to the protected area.

The Directorates of the Bulgarian National Parks have planned various initiatives on the occasion of the Day of the Parks in Bulgaria, aimed primarily at children, to tell more about the diversity of the protected areas and about the actions for their protection. 

The "Central Balkan National Park" Directorate will mark the holiday with the initiative "Let's get to know the wild inhabitants of the Central Balkan National Park", which will be held on May 28. Children from Radost Kindergarten will participate in it with activities in the form of games, in which they will learn interesting facts about the forest inhabitants of the park in an easy and accessible way for them.

Directorate "National Park Pirin" plans to clean the lower part of the mountain together with Sports Club of Veterans - Bansko, and the event will be held on June 2. The directorate's visitor information center in Bansko will be open from May 27 to 31 for the "Week dedicated to the Day of Parks in Bulgaria" with a program of talks, games and presentations about the natural and national parks in Bulgaria.

On May 28, the "Rila National Park" Directorate will conduct an educational visit to familiarize yourself with the park to the "Along the Beli Iskar River Valley" eco-trail. Third-graders from Neofit Rilski Primary School in Dupnitsa will take part in the event. Young nature lovers will learn interesting facts about the flora and fauna of Rila National Park. On the same day, experts from the park directorate will participate in an event organized by the Regional History Museum in Blagoevgrad, dedicated to Parks Day, with educational activities for the graduates of the ecology school at the Center for Personal and Creative Development of Children of Blagoevgrad.