Mantaritza Biosphere Reserve ( bg, Биосферен резерват "Мантарица") is situated to the north of Golyama Syutka Peak in the

Rhodope Mountains The Rhodopes (; bg, Родопи, ; el, Ροδόπη, ''Rodopi''; tr, Rodoplar) 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 i ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

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

Western capercaillie The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. ...

(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.

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{{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