Away from the media space, good things happen without anyone knowing about them. Last Wednesday, during working hours, a group of friends from Varna and Aksakovo cleaned one of the paths between Aladzha Monastery and Vinitsa district. A forest, meadows, fountains, a walk, ecology, a talk…: a bunch of pleasant and meaningful experiences – all in one.
These were people working in the tourism industry. Their company is a partner in a project to protect the Bulgarian coasts. Sometimes it takes tourists around the forested areas near Varna. But cleaning was not a direct task of the project. Nor was it just for the sake of the tourists, although they will soon be guided along the route. Just
all these people love nature, appreciate it,
also the history and culture it offers – and what you love, you take care of! For the same reason they were cleaning up at the Stones of Beaten ten days ago.
The group walked along the red markings. Almost the entire route passes through the Golden Sands Nature Park. It is clean, there is litter mainly on the picnic areas. However, as we approach “Vinitsa” and the villa area “Dobreva Cheshma”, things become escalatingly unbearable – people have been littering here, there, everywhere… Whole micro litters! And our friends filled the bags
But where to dispose of them? The available containers in the area overflow! And there you have it – the garbage is not taken away on time, the containers are few, the garbage is flooding the surrounding area. This is the situation right around Aladzha Monastery and the asphalt road to it. A tourist site, the pride of Varna, thousands visit it… – and the containers themselves are directly on the garbage.
Not places for garbage collection, but for… uncollected garbage!
Is it normal?
And when the rubbish is left, the swarms of scavengers start to come around. Smells, filth. It’s nothing to talk about…
“Before talking about any kind of tourism, Varna Municipality should clean up its own backyard – the squares, the sidewalks, the groves, sites like Aladzha Monastery… It’s up to it, no one else!”, commented angrily Veselin Edrov, Sustainability Manager at Destination Tourism Services – Bulgaria.
“The dirt creates big problems in determining tourists’ itineraries. We try to bypass rural dumps. We try to clean up the dirt roads ourselves,” said Krassimir Stefanov, a freelance tourism worker specialising in hard-to-reach cultural, historical and natural sites.
And another problem from the eco action on the route – a lot of wet wipes. Tiny, not noticeable supposedly, but they don’t decompose – if not cleaned, they stay forever. So, dear people, don’t throw wet wipes in the nature! Nothing at all should be thrown,
put it in your backpack –
The contractor of the project is the Institute of Oceanology at BAS. The funding is from the foundation of “DER Touristic”, a large German tour operator. As part of its corporate social responsibility, it supports environmental sustainability activities around the world free of charge. The funding was applied for in the face of considerable competition. The Bulgarian project is being implemented alongside others in Tanzania, the Maldives, etc. Therefore, it is not only a good thing, but also a success for those involved on the Bulgarian side (besides the institute, also the mentioned company Destination Tourism Services, a subsidiary of the DER group). But why doesn’t the public know about the venture? Well, it is due to the peculiarities in the mood of the people from the Institute of Oceanology – they are there to look after their direct affairs, it does not occur to them that publicity would only be beneficial for such initiatives.
Anyway. Whatever. Good things should be promoted, we do, and nature itself – you know!
