About the CHM :: CHM in Bulgaria

Research and Needs Assessment study of the Bulgarian CHM establishment were made in 2001. The same year a national workshop with the participation of a wide range of stakeholders took place.

Upon a recommendation of the participants in the national workshop, in April 2002 the Ministry of Environment and Water established a temporary Working Group to support the National coordinator.

In the same year, 2002, a CHM Unit with the NNPS of the MOEW was established, an office was equipped in the building of the Ministry of Environment and Water on Maria Luiza Blvd. N 22, room 421, tel. /fax.: 940 66 43, tel.: 940 66 11.

Following the recommendations of the report on the Needs Assessment study and taking into consideration the results of the national workshop, the CHM Unit started supporting the establishment of a National Coordination Group in which all stakeholders were to be presented. The major part of the work of the CHM unit in the August – October 2002 period has been the development of the concept of the Bulgarian CHM and for its portal page.

Management and Organization

The management and organization of the Bulgarian CHM are implemented through the established organizational structure. This structure comprises the Ministry of Environment and Water; the National Coordination Group; the National Coordinator; the CHM unit and the CHM Information Nodes.

Organizational Structure of the Bulgarian CHM

The existing Information Nodes are as follows:

1.      NNPS Node (National Nature Protection Service with the Ministry of Environment and Water);

2.      Agroecology Node (the department of Agroecology with the Directorate Development of the Rural regions and Investments/ the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests);

3.      NFB Node (the National Forest Board with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests);

4.      BAS Node (Bulbionet project of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences);

5.      University of Sofia Node (the Faculty of Biology at the University of Sofia);

6.      NGOs Node (Bluelink Information network, Non-governmental organizations) including initially 6 NGOs – the Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme, the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds, the Bats Research and Protection Group, the Rhodopes Ecological Organization, the Wilderness Fund Society, the Federation of NGOs Green Balkans;

7.      Park’s Node (Association of Parks in Bulgaria);

8.      Environmental Education Node (The Education, Culture and Ecology Center ‘21).

9.  Executive Environmental Agency.