Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
A river mouth on the Black Sea coast with diverse habitats, including riparian forest of
Fraxinus,
Ulmus and
Crataegus, nearby mountain ridges with broadleaved deciduous forests of
Quercus, coastal freshwater marshes, rocky seashore, reedbeds of
Phragmites,
Typha and
Schoenoplectus, sand beaches with dunes and inlets, and a small offshore island. Open fresh water is dominated by
Hydrocharis,
Nymphaea, and
Lemna. Sand-dunes have a cover of grasses and dwarf-shrubs. There is some scrub dominated by
Paliurus. Land-uses are confined to the buffer zone and unprotected areas.
The IBA is important as a breeding site for
Ficedula semitorquata, and is also a notable migratory bottleneck site, where a minimum of 10,000
Ciconia ciconia pass overhead each autumn. Breeding species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Phalacrocorax pygmeus (4 pairs; max. 54 in winter),
Aythya nyroca (3 pairs). Significant proportion (³1%) of national population breeding at site:
Ixobrychus minutus (10-15 pairs).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main problems are heavy tourist pressure, building encroachment, and changes to the water regime (caused by upstream water-abstraction, and eutrophication of marshes). The management plan for Ropotamo Complex was prepared by the Ministry of Environment under the Bulgarian-Swiss Biodiversity Conservation Programme.
National Partial
International Low1,001 ha of IBA covered by Nature Reserve (Ropotamo, 1,001 ha). 167 ha of IBA covered by National Monument (Alepu lake, 167 ha). 18 ha of IBA covered by National Monument (Maslen Nos, 18 ha). 12 ha of IBA covered by National Monument (Pyassachni Dyuni, 12 ha). 40 ha of IBA covered by Protected Landscape (Stamopolu, 40 ha). 771 ha of IBA covered by Buffer Zone (Ropotamo, 771 ha). 97 ha of IBA covered by Ramsar Site (Arkoutino, 97 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ropotamo Complex (Bulgaria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ropotamo-complex-iba-bulgaria on 23/12/2024.
