A recent ruling by Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court has halted a controversial plan to allow large-scale logging in Pirin national park. The decision marks a significant victory for nature conservation and provides a key test case for environmental governance in Central and Eastern Europe.
The annulled order, issued by the Ministry of Environment and Water, would have allowed “sanitary” logging in the park, citing snow, wind, and bark beetle damage. While such measures may be justified in commercial forests, they pose serious ecological risks when applied to protected old-growth ecosystems.
When "sanitary" logging harms biodiversity
Dead and decaying trees may appear to be forest waste, but in reality they are critical components of healthy forest ecosystems. Nearly one-third of Bulgaria’s forest species depend on deadwood for food or shelter. Removing it threatens habitat integrity and undermines biodiversity.
Species at risk include the rosalia longicorn beetle, three-toed and white-backed woodpeckers, boreal owls, and brown bears. Logging also disrupts natural forest regeneration processes, which are essential in national parks where preservation, not productivity, is the core management objective.
This legal ruling follows years of litigation led by WWF-Bulgaria to ensure that management of national parks complies with environmental law and scientific standards.
The long fight to protect Pirin
The court decision is the latest in a series of efforts to safeguard Pirin national park. In 2017, the Bulgarian government approved a development plan that would have opened nearly 48 percent of the park to logging and allowed construction on two-thirds of its territory. The proposal included cutting down forests aged between 100 and 500 years, comprising white fir, spruce, and endemic Macedonian pine.
Pirin is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most ecologically important regions in Bulgaria, home to more than 70 endemic plant species, bears, wolves, owls, and chamois.
WWF-Bulgaria challenged the 2017 plan in court and launched an international campaign that drew support from across the world. Public figures including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jared Leto called on Bulgarian leaders to protect the park. By 2020, after three years of advocacy and litigation, the plan was overturned. This victory was a testament to the role of civil society, science, and an independent judiciary in defending public environmental goods. Protests took place not only in Sofia but also in Berlin, Brussels, London, and Sydney. Thousands of citizens and dozens of NGOs mobilized in defense of Pirin, making the case visible far beyond Bulgaria’s borders.
Another court win in 2022 blocked unjustified sanitary logging in old-growth forests, and the current decision reinforces the legal precedent that protected areas are not subject to industrial exploitation.
Rule of law still matters
In a time when the EU is working to implement its biodiversity strategy and nature restoration law, Pirin offers a concrete example of what legal enforcement and public participation can achieve. The ruling affirms that protected areas are not just lines on a map. They are vital ecological assets and must be governed accordingly.
