Official project title: “BEARDED VULTURE LIFE” (project #101113869 LIFE22-NAT-BG-Bearded Vulture LIFE)
Duration: 7 years (August 2023 – July 2030)
Funding: The European Union’s LIFE Programme provides 75% of the funding; the French zoos Bioparc de Doué and Sainte-Croix co-finance FWFF within the project.
Implementation: Association “Green Balkans – Stara Zagora” and partners – Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna, Bulgarian Environmental Partnership Foundation, EVN – Elektrorazpredelenie Yug EAD, Severozapadno Darjavno Predpriatie– Vratsa, Natural Park “Blue Stones” from Bulgaria, Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF) from the Netherlands, and Milvus Group from Romania.
Project website: https://vultureslife.fwff.org
To restore the populations of the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) and the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in Bulgaria and the Balkans.
Both species are globally near-threatened and are listed as “Extinct” in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria.
Within the framework of the project Bright Future for Black Vulture, significant progress has already been achieved in the reintroduction of the species into the Bulgarian wild, providing an important foundation for the next steps.
The project area strategically covers about 30,000 km² including 9 SPAs (Special Protected Areas), suitable for, and currently inhabited by vultures along the Balkan Mountains chain, but also in SW and SE Bulgaria. It comprises core areas of some 6000 km² (group of SPAs along the Balkan Mountains) of suitable habitats, to serve as breeding and foraging sites for vultures.
The Project Area in Bulgaria includes one National Park (Central Balkan) and three Nature Parks (Sinite Kamani, Vrachanski Balkan and Rilski Manastir). Nine SPAs in total are included in the PA: Ponor, Vrachanski Balkan, Tsentralen Balkan, Sinite kamani – Grebenets, Kotlenska planina, Rilski manastir, Kresna , Sakar , Provadiysko-Royaksko plato.
More detailed information about these areas you can find on the dedicated project website.
On May 17, 2025 the first three bearded vulture chicks were placed in artificial nests in the Sliven Balkan, and we are celebrating their bright future here in Bulgaria. Read more about this event and follow the news section on the Bearded Vulture LIFE project’s website.
