Penguin Travel

Located to the north-west of the city of Sofia, Dragoman Marsh is placed in the lowering between the hills Chepan and Three Ears. It is a part of the heterogeneous complex comprising marshes, wet meadows and Karst heights in the NW corner of the field of Sofia - places, very famous in the near past with their phenomenal diversity of plants and animals.
During the last decade the water from the marsh was not pumped out regularly. As a result on the territory of the former marsh began to retain more and more water, forming a number of little open water bodies (with e diameter ca. 10-15 m each) within the extensive reedbeds. Today these marshy areas remain there throughout the whole year. At present the territory of Dragoman Marsh is ca. 140 ha, reaching its maximum in spring with 220 ha. 
Due to its position, Dragoman Marsh is an important stop-over along the Balkans' migratory route "Via Aristotelis". During nesting season in the past there used to breed Red-necked and Black-necked Grebes, Bitterns, Pintails, Common Cranes, Redshanks, Snipes etc. Before the beginning of the autumn migration in late summer thousands of waterfowl preferred the secure conditions in Dragoman Marsh in order to moult here. 
In 2001 a project of BALKANI Wildlife Society (www.balkani.org) on the "Conservation and restoration of the wetlands and the wet meadows in the Karst region of Dragoman" began. The interest, directed to Dragoman Marsh, was raised by the fact that currently this is the only one of its kind Karst marsh left in Bulgaria, which has even the chance to be almost fully restored. 
On the other hand there are no other natural wetlands close to the city of Sofia, which could be used for outdoor educational programs with children and students by revealing them the ecological essence of these endangered habitats. 
The project aim is to contribute to the development of most appropriate conservation and restoration activities, concerning Dragoman Marsh; development of local Biodiversity Action Plan, which will help the local community identify their own environmental priorities and take active steps to improve their environment. This will be achieved through the following objectives:
   - To collect recent detailed information on the migration and breeding status of all species of birds, inhabiting Dragoman Marsh, just before the beginning of any kind of restoration and conservation activities in the site.
   - To prepare a photo archive, presenting in details the recent diversity of habitats, rare plants and animals in the marsh.
   The information collected through the implementation of these activities will also contribute to:
      - the work on the designation of Dragoman Marsh as a protected area and a site of the Community-wide network of nature protection areas NATURA 2000; being a part of it, the marsh will be assured long-term survival as a wildlife area, housing many endangered species - that is how this will also meet the internationally identified priorities of the European community;
      - the implementation of the National Biodiversity Strategies, which will assist the government of Bulgaria to meet its obligations to the Convention on Biological Diversity;
      - raising the public awareness as a part of environmentally directed education campaigns;
      - development of outdoor educational programs with students;
      - the preparation of leaflets and information tables, revealing to the visitors of the wetland the nature of both the ecosystem and local biodiversity;
 

http://www.birdwatchingbulgaria.com