Steneto Reserve

Overview

Steneto is a reserve located in the Central Balkan National Park, Stara Planina, Bulgaria.
During its existence, the reserve has repeatedly changed its borders and is one of the largest reserves in the Central Balkan National Park. Its area is over 3500 hectares. It covers the entire upper reaches of the Cherni Osam River. The place offers an opportunity to study nature without human influence.
The relief of the reserve is very fragmented and diverse. In the areas "Haidushko igralo" and "Bivola" there are vertical rocks with a height of 150 m. In the reserve you can see rock formations with a fantastic shape, as well as caves, cavities in the rocks and more. The gorge of the same name is located within the boundaries of the Wall. The area has a well-developed karst base, which is a prerequisite for the formation of karst caves and other karst forms. In the reserve is one of the longest karst caves in Bulgaria - Kumanitsa, which has a length of nearly 2000 meters. Here is located the second deepest abyssal cave in Bulgaria - Raichova Dupka, 377 meters deep.
In 1963 the Steneto area was declared a national park, and the then area of ​​the protected area is about 1607 hectares. It was declared a reserve with a total area of ​​3578.8 hectares by Order No. 214 of the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Council of Ministers of April 5, 1979, and became the largest nature reserve within the Central Balkan National Park. The wall has an area of ​​nearly 3579 hectares. Later, together with other Bulgarian reserves, it was included in the world network of biosphere reserves under the UNESCO program "Man and the Biosphere".
The diverse relief and the large area of ​​the reserve predispose to the development of a large number of plant species. More than 1000 different species of plants have been identified. The reserve preserves primary forest systems, which are typical for the middle part of Stara Planina. 79% of the forests are pure beech forests, which in some places are over 200 years old, and there are separate groups of trees over 320 years old. There are also mixed deciduous forests: hornbeam, oak, maple, as well as some coniferous forests of fir and spruce. Of great importance are the plants yew, Cossack juniper and silivryak. The Steneto Reserve is home to one of the largest laurel deposits in Bulgaria.
Steneto is a reserve in which a larger number of birds than all Stara Planina reserves have been found. There are rare birds such as the Imperial and Lesser Eagle, Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Eagle Eagle, Orc Falcon, Ural Ululitsa, as well as woodpecker, owl and a large number of songbirds. There are two rare species of mammals: the brown bear, which has become extinct in almost all of Europe, and the otter, which is found only in unpolluted waters.
About 100 of the animal species found here are included in various lists of protected animals.