Kamchia (biosphere reserve)

Kamchia Biosphere Reserve
IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
Location of Kamchia Biosphere Reserve
Location	Municipality of Dolni Chiflik, Varna Province, Bulgaria
Nearest city	Varna
Coordinates	43°01′10.47″N 27°52′45.78″E / 43.0195750°N 27.8793833°E / 43.0195750; 27.8793833Coordinates: 43°01′10.47″N 27°52′45.78″E / 43.0195750°N 27.8793833°E / 43.0195750; 27.8793833
Area	10.72 km2
Established	1977
Governing body	Ministry of Environment and Water (Bulgaria), Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water

The Kamchia Biosphere Reserve, (Bulgarian: Биосферен Резерват Камчия) is a UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve on the northern coastline of Bulgaria, comprising the floodplain at the mouth of the Kamchia River. Consisting largely of alluvial longose groves, (or the Longoz as it is also known), but also featuring some of the Black Sea coastline, the area of the protected habitats in the reserve, together with Kamchia Sands Protected Area, totals 1.200 ha. It protects the primeval forest from intensive logging and drainage that had decimated it by mid-20th century and was established in 1977. It is situated 25 km south of the town of Varna and is enclosed by the villages of Staro Oriahovo, Shkorpilovtsi and Bliznatsi.

The reserve was established in 1951 to protect the remnants of floodplain forests which had once covered a considerably larger area. The biosphere reserve itself was established in 1977, as with all other Biosphere Reserves in Bulgaria. The area has been subject to logging and drainage attempts in the past. The reserve is currently under revision.

The core area of the reserve is 842.1 ha, (with a buffer zone of 230 ha), some 764 ha of it is afforested, and the rest 78.1 ha is not afforested, (34.5 ha of meadows, 0.4 ha of channels, 3.3 ha of openings, 21.8 ha of swamps, 9.9 ha of marshlands etc.), the reserve is 40 km in length and reaches 5 km in width in some areas. The "Longoz" forests in the lower course of the river are the best representatives of their kind throughout Europe. Within the reserve there are remnant riverine forests, small freshwater marshes of Phragmites and Typha along the riverbank, arable land (the former Staro-Oryachovo marshes), a beach with sand-dunes, and a sea bay.

The area is a key site for birds and harbours almost 200 species, eight of which are considered endangered and are listed under the IUCN Red List. The site is important for wintering Cygnus cygnus and is the most important breeding area in Bulgaria for Dendrocopos medius and Ficedula semitorquata. The locality is also a major migratory bottleneck site, where 60,000 or more white storks pass overhead each autumn. Birds include a small colony of little egrets (Egretta garzetta) and the rare half-collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis semitorquata).