Rusenski Lom
Rusenski Lom and the Lomovete area of northern Bulgaria
by Koen De Rijck, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme
Rusenski Lom is a protected area near the Danube in the northeast of Bulgaria. It consists of forests and grasslands set in a wider landscape of large-scale intensive arable farming. The three Lom Rivers (Lomovete) form a striking landscape of limestone canyons, with a mixture of humid grasslands on the canyon floors and dry semi-natural habitats on the cliffs, slopes and flat plateaux.
Rusenski Lom also contains an important range of historic sites such as churches and monasteries built into the vertical canyon walls, monks’ caves and an ancient citadel and as a result has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The dramatic landscape, the unique biodiversity and the rich cultural heritage were the main reasons to declare Rusenski Lom a Nature Park, covering an area of 3.408 ha. This is only a part of the Lomovete Natura 2000 site, an area under the EU Habitats Directive of 32.489 ha, and overlapping with it a site under the Birds Directive (3.408 ha).
More Information:
© Photos: Koen De Rijck, Tsonka Hristova, Maya Todorova,Milko Berberov, Rusenski Lom Nature Park archive, Evgeni Dinev, Radoslav Rusinov, Alexander Ivanov, S. Beshkov, S. Abadjiev
