In school we learn that water is not living nature. However, north of Varna there are waters that are teeming with life. Just 3 km east of Shabla live three lakes united into one. Not just because of the animals, plants and birds around and in them. People who have lived here for ages believe that these lakes radiate an unexplainable energy. Some even compare it to a human soul.
“Who came and came back again. His heart remains here. It’s as if there’s some invisible soul holding him back. And it comes back…, a lot of people come back. Maybe because of the sea and the lake, which together are a unique part of the village.”
Aunt Rosy is sitting by the door of the church in the village of Ezerets, talking. She grew up in the small village of Shabla. Until the 4th grade she studied in the building that today houses the local community center. Like most of her peers, she found fulfillment in the big city. But 15 years ago, she returned to the village of 135 permanent residents and took care of the local church. Built in 1886, almost razed to the ground during socialism, it was rebuilt 10 years ago. But… it is still waiting to be consecrated. A priest only comes here for a big celebration. The rest of the time it’s… Aunt Rossi who opens the church. The oldest church in Shablen is famous for its icons, a donation from 1888, which have not been restored to this day. The painted saints have extremely rare halos resembling suns. And the church bell is in the branches of a centuries-old tree in the churchyard.
We leave from Ezerets
The old name of the village until 1942 was Sattalneş, which literally means “sold”. Because of the lack of forests and timber in the past, the population built their houses out of reeds and clay. In order to protect themselves from the harsh winter storms in Dobrudja, the locals carved the huts, like cellars, into the ground.
The present name, Ezerets, is linked to the lake, which is part of the Shabla lake complex. It includes three different lakes – Shabla, Ezeretsko and Shabla Tuzla. If you are in the area in July and August and see people covered in mud from head to toe walking smiling from the lake to the beach, don’t be alarmed. This is the healing mud of Shabla Tuzla, a drying type of lake. It was formed after seawater receded through the dune that formed in front of it.
And if the so-called Tuzla is more of a shallow lagoon lake, the other two—Shabla and Ezerets—are much deeper, reaching depths of up to 4 meters. Viewed from above, they appear as one, as they are connected by a canal. From specially built observation points, you can see, even with the naked eye, various types of large waterfowl, herons, cranes, and different birds of prey.
A family of swans with their two cygnets, floating in the lake near Ezerets Beach, was one of the most beautiful sights of the past summer. Adults enjoy watching them like little children. The local fisherman and vegetable grower, Grandpa Dimo, rides 6 km on his bicycle every day to feed them.
The Soul of the Lake
“Hello, Dimo! How are you?” greets him Elen on her way to the beach with her young son. Elen Sabatini came from the southwestern part of France nearly 18 years ago. She started a family and has stayed here ever since. Just like in her homeland, a lot of sunflowers and corn are grown here.
“The difference is that in the municipality of Shabla, there are protected areas, steppe vegetation, sand dunes, small forests… There’s a great deal of biodiversity. In my region, you couldn’t see all of this,” says Elen. The young woman likens this area to “a bouquet of herbs.”
“That’s what I love most about it here. I walk for hours in every season. The truth is, they aren’t the first thing to impress you. They’re a bit hidden—you have to seek them out, pay attention to them, to appreciate them, to make them your own…”
Krasimir arrived in this region nearly 25 years ago. His father, a beekeeper, bought a house in Ezerets and moved his apiary from Kavarna. The bees brought Krasi to the village, which he then described as “very well-preserved, authentic, with characteristic Dobrudzha architecture—peaceful and unknown.” For a long time during the socialist era, as a border area, the village was isolated from the outside world.
“Back then, there were lovely winters with snow. There were fascinating elderly people whose life experiences were new to me. It was very beautiful,” the beekeeper shares. He adds: “And it’s still beautiful now, though the old houses are missing.”
Unlike Krasimir, Milena arrived in Ezerets with her family about two years ago. She teaches pottery classes at the local community center during the summer months and returns to Sofia in the winter.
…community center during the summer months and returns to Sofia in the winter.
“We came to Ezerets because we loved the area—the untamed nature, the birds… Just like with clay, there’s something wild here, something that is both in your hands and yet has its own opinion and life,” shares the young mother with a dreamy look.
According to anthropologist Ivaylo Markov, who spent several years studying the lives of people near the protected areas, the place is loved for the tranquility it offers. “There is none of the overdevelopment that happened along the southern Black Sea coast. Very few places in Bulgaria can boast such a combination of a sea with a spacious beach, a lake, and a fertile plain,” says Ivaylo.
Pure nature is also the foundation for keeping bees, believes Krasimir. In his words, however, the most valuable thing about any place is always the people. “Other things change, lose their value, or increase their market price…”
“There are always good, kind-hearted people here. Ezerets attracts warm and good-hearted people,” Aunt Rosi is convinced.
And… protected by its people.
The untamed soul of the lake has remained intact partly due to its protected status. The “Shabla Lake Complex” is a protected area under the Natura 2000 network, spanning nearly 3,175 hectares. It is separated from the sea by a roughly 50-meter-wide strip of sand dunes. The aim of the protection is to preserve the natural habitats and the species inhabiting them. Shabla Lake alone is home to at least 10 protected plant species and over 80 protected bird species. Together with Durankulak Lake, Shabla Lake is one of Bulgaria’s 11 internationally significant wetlands, known as Ramsar sites.
The so-called Pontic-Sarmatian steppes, locally referred to as “kairatsi,” are also strictly protected. This is typical vegetation (narrow-leaved peony, sea wormwood, iris, etc.) found in uncultivated, rocky areas and characteristic of the steppe. Within the European Union, such steppes exist only in the Bulgarian and Romanian parts of Dobruja.
In the eastern part of the Shabla-Ezerets Lake lies the only state government residence in Dobruja. Its presence brings both positive and negative effects to the area.
“On one hand, the lake is better protected; on the other, any rise in water levels leads to flooding of the residence. A normal process is missing—the lake’s hydrology is subordinated to the existence of the residence,” states Ivaylo Ivanov from the Public Center for Environment and Sustainable Development. Between 1944 and 1949, a canal was dug into the western part of the lake, through the rocks, to serve irrigation needs. “It drains and depletes the lake,” Ivanov explains.
A problem on which everyone agrees is the overgrowth of reeds. They need to be removed because they deprive organisms of access to the shallows and, in practice, turn the lake into two deep puddles, according to the expert.
Management plans for the protected wetlands are set for 10-year periods. Although they have expired, they remain in effect. However, the issue is that they are outdated, having been written over 20 years ago, says Shabla Municipality’s ecologist, Galya Kamberova. In addition to their relevance, the lack of funding for the projects and activities outlined in them also creates challenges for their management.
The municipality of Shabla has a reed-cutting machine purchased through a PUDOSS (Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Program) project. However, its use requires funds. The state does not allocate such funds, even though reed cutting is included in the management plans. Only in the past two years has this been possible, thanks to an externally funded project by the Regional Environmental and Water Inspectorate in Varna.
“The overgrowth of reeds in the lakes is a problem because the plant matter falls into the water, decomposes, and releases many biogenic elements. This leads to eutrophication and algal blooms. Oxygen is depleted, and fish die-offs can occur,” explains Galya Kamberova.
The state and the municipality also cannot agree on how to deal with mosquitoes, which are a problem during the summer months. “There is no funding allocated for larvicide treatments in the lakes, which are state property. It’s not right for the municipality to bear the cost, but it also lacks the resources to do so,” says the municipal ecologist.
It wasn’t always this way.
Unlike today, in the past, the lake played a much more significant role in the lives of the locals. It was central to their livelihood and sustenance. Besides fishing, the reeds were used to make house roofs, weave baskets, and create mats. In this way, the lake was naturally maintained.
According to anthropologist Ivaylo Markov, local people must be involved in the decision-making process for designating and managing protected areas. Only then will they see these areas as a part of their daily lives, plans, and life goals.
A better path to sustainable development is to view humans not as external factors but as part of nature, Markov believes. One of the significant problems in Bulgaria regarding the management of protected areas, he says, is the lack of sufficient communication with local communities. Instead, their fears are exploited by people who have no interest in this type of development.
“Restrictions always create different opportunities. Protected status brings benefits—it allows you to market your products as organic, produced in a protected area, or to develop ecotourism combined with birdwatching. This attracts a different segment of tourists who are more affluent,” the researcher explains.
What Unites the Locals
About a year ago, the people of Ezerets established a foundation in an effort to restore the old community center. It was built with volunteer labor and donations. The village residents used to come here to watch movies, hear the news, or simply sing together. To this day, the most touching memories of the elderly are connected to this building. Now, their descendants want to breathe life back into it.
“Although they do not live in the village year-round, people care deeply for the little things here that they miss in the city. Over the past few years, they’ve gotten used to common local initiatives: ‘let’s clean the beach,’ ‘let’s organize sports for the kids’… this is how a local community was formed,” shares Elen Sabatini. According to her, the main goal of the foundation is for the locals and newcomers to form a new community and create the living character of the village. “In this way, we will protect our way of life and ensure that the local economy will develop by the locals,” says the Ezerets resident with French roots.
Her husband Krasimir believes that the future greatly depends on climate change—whether it will favor agricultural development, and whether farmers will be able to continue their traditional work with crops. He wants to believe that the future of beekeeping will be a good one.
“The most valuable thing about this area is the people. We want to find a balance between public interests and nature conservation efforts so that we can preserve the unique natural heritage here,” says Galya Kamberova.
Whether future generations will seek, discover, and preserve this place, only time will tell.
As we leave Ezerets, we are a little better and a little more grown-up, perhaps because we have gained a bit of wisdom. We have rediscovered that child within us, which is an inseparable part of everything around it—of the bouquet of herbs, the bees, the soul of the lake…
Photos: Georgi Krustev, Svilena Velcheva
