UNESCO OKS SKI FACILITIES IN BULGARIAN MOUNTAIN RESORT

A report of UNESCO's World Heritage Center was prepared on the basis of on-the-spot checks conducted in October 2011 by a special mission

Ski facilities in Bulgaria's mountain resort of Bansko have no negative impact on the environment and are not a threat to the extraordinary value of the Pirin National Park as a world heritage site, according to a report of UNESCO's World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sofia News Agency said.

The document was prepared on the basis of on-the-spot checks conducted in October 2011 by a special mission headed by Kishore Rao, head of the World Heritage Center, and Stig Johansson from the IUCN.

The mission was tasked with evaluating the condition of the site and presenting its recommendations to the 36th session of UNESCO scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg on June 25 – July 5.

The report also states that the replacement of ski facilities at the resort was carried out in an appropriate manner and they cannot be considered a negative influence on the value of the world heritage site.

The joint World Heritage Centre / IUCN reactive monitoring mission was held on a tip-off by environmental NGOs which stated that the replacement of ski facilities at the Bansko ski zone had harmed the Pirin National Park, which was a reason for the site's inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

The participants in the monitoring mission held meetings with representatives of Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Water and NGOs and with regional mayors and conducted on-the-spot checks of the replaced ski facilities in the Bansko ski zone.

The conclusions were made by the most authoritative institutions in the sphere of environmental policy and appraisals, UNESCO's World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation (IUCN),an advisory body on natural heritage.