Pirin National Park

• Commercial development (developments in the Bansko ski zone)
• Management systems/ management plan (lack of effective management mechanisms)
• Management and institutional factors (boundary issues)
• Illegal activities (illegal logging) 

Total amount granted: USD 24,915 of financial support from the Participation Programme of UNESCO for development of a strategy for sustainable tourism (2010)

On 1 December 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/225/documents/, providing the following information:

• Following the ruling of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) to reject Decision № EO-1 by the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) not to implement a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the draft new Management Plan (MP) of the property, the State Party has followed up with the necessary actions, including those reported below;
• The MOEW has instructed the Director of the Park to develop an updated draft MP, in accordance with relevant environmental legislation, taking into account the recommendations of the 2018 IUCN Advisory mission to the property. The updated draft MP will include revised management objectives for land and natural resource use, development of infrastructure and construction, as well as other necessary provisions to ensure the conservation of the property. To date, no updated MP has been submitted to the MOEW;
• The SEA will be carried out simultaneously with the preparation of the MP. The SEA will determine the mandatory conditions for the subsequent approval of the MP, including relevant measures and restrictions, as identified through the SEA process;
• No further action has been taken on development plans and investment proposals in the buffer zone of the property, following the repeal of the amendments to the current MP introduced in 2017 by the Council of Ministers;
• According to national legislation, strategic regional planning cannot be undertaken through the property’s MP. Such planning is performed through development plans, which are subject to relevant SEA and Appropriate Assessment (AA) procedures, in which the impact of the MP on the environment and protected areas is assessed;
• The long-term vision for socio-economic development is determined by spatial development planning of the territory, which includes assessment of potential environmental impacts of development plans, including consideration for impacts on protected areas;
• No significant development projects or investment proposals with potential impacts on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) have been approved in the reporting period. A number of small-scale projects, related mainly to maintenance and improvement of existing facilities, have been approved;
• All approved investment proposals within the property have been processed according to relevant environmental legislation. In view of the development projects, which have been approved, the State Party deemed that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)/SEA and AA procedures were not necessary. Additional checks were undertaken to ensure that the projects were compatible with relevant protected area and water management plans.

While the decision to develop an updated draft MP for the property, in accordance with the decision of the SAC and taking into account the recommendations of the 2018 IUCN Advisory mission to the property, is welcomed, it is of concern that no progress has been reported on this. The Committee should therefore request the State Party to expedite the development of the SEA to inform the management objectives, in particular with regards to tourism infrastructure development and logging in the new MP, and to finalize this process prior to the adoption of the draft MP so that the findings of the SEA can be reflected in the new MP. The State Party should ensure the SEA includes a specific assessment of the proposed management objectives and zoning in the new MP to ensure that the plan adequately considers and reflects the property’s OUV, including in relation to potential development in areas located within its buffer zone, in line with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.

It is noted that the updated draft MP will include revised management objectives for land and natural resource use, development of infrastructure and construction, as well as other necessary provisions to ensure the conservation of the property. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate again the importance of ensuring that the new draft MP comprehensively addresses threats associated with grazing, forest and water resource management, and tourism, including tourism-related construction and infrastructure development, as identified by the 2018 IUCN Advisory mission, and specifies how management priorities will help to maintain the OUV of the property, including the protection of its integrity. Recalling the previous concerns raised by civil society regarding the content and implementation of the draft MP, the development of the new draft MP should be undertaken through public consultation with relevant stakeholders, including NGOs, and submitted to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN, prior to its final adoption.

It is also noted that no further action has been undertaken on development plans and proposals in the buffer zone following the court decision to repeal the amendments to the 2004 MP, introduced by the Council of Ministers in 2017. Whilst other development projects and investment proposals are stated to have been processed according to environmental legislation, it is unclear how they were assessed with regards to potential impacts on the property’s OUV. It is therefore recommended that the Committee request the State Party to ensure that any new projects, in particular for additional water supply from reservoirs located within the property, which may negatively impact on the OUV of the property, be reported to the World Heritage Centre, in line with Paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines, and that the potential impacts of these new projects be thoroughly assessed, in line with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context.

Information that impacts on protected areas are accounted for in strategic regional planning and the long-term vision for socio-economic development is noted. However, there is no confirmation that a long-term strategic approach for all plans and programmes specifically related to the property, its buffer zone, adjacent municipalities and the broader region, has been developed with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, including municipalities, as requested by the Committee. The State Party should therefore be requested again to undertake this exercise to ensure that future development is harmonized, coordinated and consistent with the regulations protecting the property’s OUV and integrity, and the Operational Guidelines.