05.3.2007

SKI RESORT CONSTRUCTION IN BULGARIA WORRIES ENVIRONMENTALISTS

Just a few years ago, there were only three ski resorts in Bulgaria – Borovets, Bansko and Pamporovo – that served the needs primarily of local skiers. Since then, the country has enjoyed increasing tourism and interest from Western and Central Europeans, resulting in the planning of at least 11 other ski zone projects. Most of these are still nothing but proposals, and few are stalling in the planning stages. But the completion of one of them – Bansko ski zone – has set a precedent that is economically promising but environmentally worrisome.

Because most ski zone projects impinge on protected areas, questions about environmental damage have entered public discourse. After a summer-long campaign against development in Irakli – a pristine region on the Black Sea coast – environmental organisations have gained some momentum in their campaign to raise awareness about possible consequences of over development in Bulgaria’s mountains. Only five per cent of Bulgaria’s territory is protected. This will change after Bulgaria’s EU accession in 2007, when about 30 per cent of the country’s territory is expected to enter Natura 2000, the European network of sites assigned for protection of species and habitats. The three national parks – Pirin, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, Rila and the Central Balkan  are most likely to be included in Natura 2000 together with other protected areas. When, and if, that happens, construction will be limited and most of the planned ski resorts might never see the light of day.

The actual worries of ecological organisations, however, are that the exact opposite will happen – the size of territories now proposed to be part of Natura 2000 and protected areas may be severely decreased to exclude areas of investor interest. The worse scenario is that some of the territories may already be damaged upon entering the Natura 2000 network, says Balkani Wildlife Society public campaigner Andrei Kovachev.

The precedent
Ski zone Bansko spreads across 250 hectares of Pirin National Park. Building on about 100 of these has been legal, but the remaining 150 hectares have been developed without an Environmental Impact Assessment act (EIA), says environmental NGO Save Pirin.

Pirin’s status as a protected area is guaranteed by UNESCO, two Bulgarian laws, the European Bern convention, the CORINE biotope network, and soon probably the Natura 2000 network.
Still, the construction of ski slopes, lift and retail facilities in Bansko has led to the clear-cutting of unique forests to an extent nearly three times greater than permitted; the construction of an artificial lake and a water catchment in the riverbed; significant excavation works on National Park land; and the construction of allegedly illegal facilities for artificial snow that use chemicals affecting the drinkable water of Bansko and surrounding areas, says Save Pirin. Currently, wastewater from buildings near the ski zone pour into the rivers and imbue subterranean waters, also affecting water quality, the report says.

If Bansko has damaged the environment, it has done just the opposite to the assets of the investors, the mixed-holding company Yulen. And if Yulen’s economic returns are any indication, developing current and new ski resorts holds the promise of a profitable enterprise. That could be why so many other projects are springing up.
Following in Bansko’s footsteps

With an average year occupancy of 20 per cent at the currently existing facilities in Borovets, the Cabinet and the Samokov Municipality plan to triple the size of the resort and create Super Borovets, that is planned to span Samokov, Borovets, and Beli Iskar. Fifty-eight per cent of the new resort delves into the territory of Rila National Park and the Central Rila reserve.

The number of beds is expected to reach 16 000 to 17 000. The mega resort would offer 33 ski pistes with a total length of more than 60km, or twice their current capacity. Ski facilities would boast a capacity of 27 000 skiers an hour, and ski pistes would accommodate as many as 6500 to 7000 skiers.

According to plans, the region will be transformed into a year-round resort with sports and amusement facilities, swimming pools, riverside parks.

That all sounded terrific until the murder of Emil Kyulev, the banker who founded the major shareholder, and the controversy that reportedly ensued between Kyulev’s widow and the Samokov municipality. If shareholders go to court to resolve disputes, Super Borovets could be delayed for years. In the meantime, the project may be sold for E 30 million because of lack of investor interest, Bulgarian media reported.

Super Perelik
Perelik envisions to build up 2197ha with ski facilities and develop Pamporovo and the region as the biggest ski centre on the Balkans. Its 180km of ski tracks will connect the Perelik peak to the Pamporovo resort, the municipal centres of Smolyan and Chepelare, and some surrounding villages. Together with Pamporovo proper, it will raise bed capacity to about 21 000 to 31 000 beds and ski facility capacity to some 40 000. 

The difficulty guaranteeing that nature will be spared during construction, however, made ecological organisations exclude Perelik territories from the proposed NATURA 2000 network in order to prevent legal problems the country would face if it fails to protect them properly. Perelik areas, however, still lie in the proposed Western Rhodopes protected area, approval of which is pending. If the whole of the Western Rhodope becomes a protected area, it would be one of the biggest in Europe. But this would prohibit construction. There are now 12 endangered and 21 rare plant and animal species in the Western Rhodopes, according to the Rhodope Project. Another environmental problem construction would bring reminds of Bansko: Perelik plans to rely on artificial snow facilities using chemicals. The Ministry of Environment and Waters (MOEW), however, has approved its EIA. Construction is expected to start in spring 2007.

What lies ahead
Similar projects (more than eleven) for large-scale ski resort construction exist for Dobrinishte and Razlog (in Pirin) Sapareva Banya, Chepelare, Smolyan, Siutka, Kom and Uzana, located in the Rhodopes and Stara Planina mountains. While most specialists on all sides of the issue share the view that Perelik, Super Borovets and Dobrinishte will see the light of day in one shape or another, many remain sceptical about the prospects and sustainability of the rest.

Environmentalists, for example, ask how resorts would deal with wastewater and household waste. The state will have to invest twice as much in infrastructure and facilities for purification than the investor would invest in ski facilities, they say. And infrastructure will come years after the problems have come up, they say.

Moreover, all ski resorts will sooner or later have to deal with global warming. Many ski resorts will face economic difficulties and even bankruptcy because of rising temperatures, according to a 2003 United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report.

Global warming will not affect the Balkans as much as it will Western Europe, said Vesselin Alexandrov, head of the Meteorology department of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology. Still, the snow cover has been thinning since the beginning of the previous century, he added. And producing artificial snow for them is unprofitable because it demands huge amounts of water and electricity, environmentalists said.