The Srebarna Biosphere Reserve is a nature reserve in northeastern Bulgaria ( Southern Dobruja), 11 miles west of Silistra and 2 km south of the Danube. The reserve is only a mile away from Danube River and includes a lake, called Srebarna and its surroundings. It is on the main migration route of the birds between Europe and Africa , called “Via Pontica”. The area is protected since 1948 and includes 6 km² of protected area and a buffer zone of 5.4 km². The lake's depth varies from 1 to 3 m.There is a museum constructed, where an exposition of taxidermy inhabitants of the reserve is arranged. There is a video camera in the heart of the marsh, where the pelicans nest. Through video connection you can listen the sounds and watch the inhabitants on a screen in the museum. Around the reserve there is an ecological path with summer-houses nearby where you can sit, relax and watch the birds.

The Srebarna Biosphere Reserve has the highest international nature protection status. It is included in the UNESCO List for Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, recognized as a Ramsar Site under the Ramsar Convention for Protection of Wetlands, a part of the World-Wide Network for Biosphere Reserves of UNESCO, and an Important Bird Area according to the Birdlife International Programme.

History

While Lake Srebarna was studied many times in the past by foreign biologists, the first Bulgarian scientist to take an interest in the area was Aleksi Petrov, who visited the reserve in 1911. In 1913, the whole of Southern Dobrudja was incorporated in Romania, but was returned to Bulgaria in 1940, when the area was visited once again by Petrov to examine the colonies of birds that nest there.

The area was proclaimed a nature reserve in 1948 and is a Ramsar site since 1975. The reserve was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1977.

Legends

There are several legends about the origin of the lake's name. The one is about a khan named Srebrun, who placed his camp around the lake of today’s Srebarna. A second one tells about a sunken boat full of silver (srebro in Bulgarian) near to the shores of the lake. According to a third one, which is regarded as most plausible, the name comes from the silvery reflections on the lake's surface during full moon.

Flora

There are hydrophyte’s species such as reed in and around the lake. The reserve is home to 67 plant species, some of which are threatened with extinction outside the territory of Srebarna .

Fauna

Srebarna is a Nature Reserve since 1948, due to the great biological diversity of the Reserve inhabitants. Several globally threatened animals reside the lake - the Dalmatian pelican, the pygmy cormorant, and the ferruginous duck, the red-breasted goose and the white-fronted goose, the otter and the medicine leech.
The total number of bird species found in and around the Srebarna Lake is 179, of them 99 are nesting ones. A wide variety of raptors, waterfowl and waders occur on passage.

There are also 39 mammal s, 21 reptile s and amphibian s and 10 fish species that inhabit the reserve.