Two protests in defense of the Blue Stones Natural Park were organized and held in the week of December 16 to 22 in Sliven. The citizens came out to state  their position against the decision of the Sliven Municipal Council from November, in which the municipal councilors decided by an absolute majority to remove protected areas from the park, so that the areas of Daulite, Karandila and areas around the Chateau Alpia property could be transformed into residential areas. formations. The two protest marches, respectively on December 18 and 22, took place through the buildings of the regional administration of Sliven, Sliven municipality, the building of the directorate of the nature park, and on December 22 a symbolic march of the protesters to the natural landmark “Halkata” was organized.

There are four demands of the protesters, namely:

1. Suspension of the procedure initiated by the Regional Administration-Sliven and the Ministry of Environment and Water-Sofia under Art. 41, item 3 under the Law on Protected Areas to reduce the area of ​​the “Sini Kamani” Nature Park, and the removal of property No. 67338.404.1 (Alpiyski Dom)
from its area;
2. Annulment of the administrative act of the Municipal Council-Sliven, Decisions 510 and 511 of 14.11.2024 for the creation of settlement entities SO Karandila and SO Daulite under Art. 25 of ZATURB;
3. Resignation of the director of the Blue Stones Natural Park Directorate due to non-fulfilment of the obligations to protect the environment, biodiversity and protected areas under Natura 2000 and protected territory Natural Park, as well as the preparation of two positive opinions in support of the two procedures cited here endangering the integrity of the Park and accordingly damaging the public interest;
4. Suspension of the project for amendments to the Ordinance amending and supplementing Ordinance No. 8 of 2011. for logging in the forests.

The protest is organized in response to the public consultation held on Friday 13th December regarding the Chateau Alpia property, in which the responsible institutions demonstrated that the public interest is not their priority.

We did not receive an answer as to why it is necessary to remove areas from the territory of the park, since this will not lead to changes. We did not receive an answer and how the positive expert opinions on the exclusion of territories were prepared, in the complete absence of information about the research methods used, complain the participants in the protest. They shared that the protest actions will probably continue for a long time, as they do not expect a quick and adequate response from the responsible institutions protecting the public interest.

The protests were supported by:

SNC Bicycle Club “Blue Rock”
Civil initiative “You are Sliven”
Association “Active Citizen”
Association “Alabak”
“Sliven Development Center”
Wag your tail foundation
Kindness Foundation
Club for the Future-Sliven
Insiders Club
Baikaria Club

You can watch an interview with Yordanka Dineva – an ecologist and one of the faces of the protest HERE