Mantaritza Biosphere Reserve () is situated to the north of Golyama Syutka Peak in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; , ; , ''Rodopi''; ) are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, and covers an area of 1319,9 hectares. The reserve was established in 1968 to protect the old

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

forests and the biotopes of the Western capercaillie (Tetrao urogalus). The area was declared as biosphere reserve in 1977. It represents century-old forests of pure and mixed stands of Norway spruce ''(Picea abies)'', European birch ''(Fagus sylvatica)'' and European silver fir ''(Abies alba)''. The reserve is situated in the Bulgarian Floristic sub-region of West Rhodope within the Central European mountain biotic province. The varied fauna includes brown bear ''(Ursus arctos)'', red deer ''(Cervus elaphus)'', roe deer ''(Capreolus capreolus)'', wild boar (Sus scrofa), pine marten ''(Martes martes)'', European badger ''(Meles meles''), hazel grouse ''(Bonasa bonasia)'', black woodpecker ''(Dryocopus martius)'' and crested tit ''(Parus cristatus)''. This area has been little affected by man. Before the biosphere reserve was designated in 1977, small-scale selective cutting took place and water reservoirs were constructed. This biosphere reserve is currently under revision.

Sources

References

{{Rakitovo Biosphere reserves of Bulgaria Nature reserves in Bulgaria Geography of Pazardzhik Province Tourist attractions in Pazardzhik Province Protected areas established in 1968 1968 establishments in Bulgaria