Chairite lakes - capsules of biodiversity in the Rhodope mountain

Description:
Although they cover only 3% of the land, peatlands contain more than twice the carbon stored in all forests. They also protect against floods and mitigate the effects of drought, reduce the risk of fires and help ensure clean drinking water. However, in recent centuries including nowadays, we continue to witness their destruction. People are drying up the territories for agricultural use, removing peat from the swamps to use as fuel and damaging them to build roads and other infrastructure. At the same time, drained and degraded peatlands have been shown to be responsible for 5.6% of global CO2 emissions annually, putting them above emissions from aviation and shipping combined.
One of the most interesting and little-known peatlands in our country are the Chairite Lakes.
These are seven lakes located in the Western Rhodopes, between the villages of Trigrad and Mugla - at 1360  to 1460 m above sea level. Only two of them have preserved their natural appearance. Siniya vir, for example which is also the youngest lake, still has the characteristic of a lake. As for the Samodivsko Lake - it is completely coveres by peat.
The largest lakes are the Golemia Göl (The Great lake)  and the Kadirevia Göl, and the largest peat island is located in the Golemia Göl.
Until the middle of the last century, the peat island in the Golemia Göl was surrounded by meadows. In the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, however, Golemia Göl and Kadirevia göl were turned into fishponds. Around the 1990s, the maintenance of the fishponds ceased, as a result of which the open water areas were overgrown with rush and willows. If this process is not stopped it will have a detrimental effect on this valuable habitat. When we add to these processes climate change and the white pine taking over the peatlands (trend that is observed worldwide), the need to care for these valuable ecosystems becomes quite clear.
DEVIN JSC is a company for which water management, climate change adaptation measures and care for Rhodope nature
are a major strategic commitment. That's why the BBF's partnership with Devin for the protection of the Chair Lakes turned out to be a natural step towards a common goal.

The current project builds on BBF`s research and work in the same area with funding from the Ecological restoration fund.

Funding: The project is implemented with the financial assistance of DEVIN JSC

BBF project team: Rumyana Ivanova, Petko Tsvetkov, Spas Uzunov, Iva Georgieva
Objective of the project: To collect data on the state of the peatlands in the Chairite Lakes region and especially on the large peat island, species diversity, the quality of the water in the lakes, as well as the changes in the water level during the different seasons; to propose a conservation plan for the Chairite Lakes with a focus on preserving the peatlands in them; to promote the importance of peatlands among the public and to propose ways for them to be visited safely by tourists (which would offer an opportunity for people to explore this valuable habitat without harming it, as peatlands are very vulnerable).

News related to the project: