Citizens and experts identified 24 species for planting 435 trees in the Odesos district during a public discussion in the Varna Hall of Varna Municipality. Following further consultations and an analysis of the specific locations, this number will be reduced to 10.
“Help us make the best possible decision,” Yanislava Shopova, the district mayor, addressed the people in the room. In addition to 435 locations with empty pits or tree stumps where trees used to stand, the district has another 200 trees that have been designated as hazardous and must also be removed. “This is alarming statistics,” Shopova commented. According to her, it is better to try and plant, regardless of the public reaction, than to be mere witnesses to tree felling.
“We will have to develop a program for the renewal of the city’s green system. We are currently working on the 2027 budget, in which we want to allocate funds for tree renewal,” stated Mayor Blagomir Kotsev, who also attended the discussion.
“It is important that the selection of tree species is aligned with the maximum volume of ecosystem services that the trees are expected to provide,” stated Sabina Maksimova from the Public Environmental Center for Sustainable Development (PECSD). “We must choose species that will absorb as much carbon as possible to partially neutralize the effects of climate change, while also providing shade, protecting against wind, floods, soil erosion, and so on.”
The European nettle tree was pointed out by various specialists as a suitable species for urban conditions and given Varna’s climatic features. “This is a highly drought-resistant species and is widely used in urban environments across Europe,” stated Stoyana Kirish, chair of the Union of Landscape Architects in Varna. “We do not categorically reject any species, but their percentage presence must be aligned with how they behave in urban settings, how they develop, and to what extent they can damage underground and above-ground infrastructure,” Kirish added. She gave the plane tree as an example, which requires at least a 3-meter green strip and is better suited for parks.
The hornbeam, common ash, Turkey oak, red oak, field maple, and honeylocust were other species that were pointed out as suitable by the experts.
“The most important thing is for the trees to be planted in the autumn so that they can establish a root system by next summer,” advised Veselin Spasov from the Gorata.bg initiative. According to him, mulching with plant material, biomass, wood chips, or other organic matter will cut the need for watering in half. The care for the planted trees, and particularly watering over the next three years, was one of the key topics during the discussion. In this regard, experts proposed the use of root barriers. They help roots grow deeper to reach water more easily while preventing damage to surface infrastructure.
“To gather information for future tree planting, a few species outside the commonly used ones should be planted on an experimental basis. Their purpose would be to study their development under current conditions and determine whether they will be suitable for future updates to the green system,” suggested Iliyan Iliev from PECSD, who also moderated the discussion. “A similar conversation about urban green space management, even if it had happened before, had never managed to achieve results that didn’t pit citizens against the municipality,” Iliev commented after the meeting.
The initiative #IAmMakingTheDistrictGreen is implemented by the district administration of Odesos District. The 435 planting locations discussed were identified during daily patrols by employees of the district’s Environmental Control Department. The locations of the identified vacant sites, broken down by micro-district, have been plotted on an interactive map available to citizens here. Over the coming month, it will be refined to include the distances from neighboring trees.
To carry out the planting, Odesos District has proposed in a report to the chairman of the Municipal Council that an additional EUR 25,500 be allocated in the district’s budget for planting material, and another EUR 9,000 for tree staking materials.
The initiative aims not only to restore the vacated planting locations, but also to consistently enrich and sustainably develop the green system of Odesos District, with a view to improving the urban environment and the quality of life of its residents.
You can view the video record of the discussion here:
