The forests of Bulgaria have priceless importance for the country and are part of the European and World wealth. Besides their key function for biodiversity conservation and provision of quality nature resources, the forests have global, national, regional, economic, ecological and social importance.
The total forest area in Bulgaria accounts for 34% of the land area. The average age of the Bulgarian forests is 49 years and broad-leaved stands dominate representing 68%. The growing stock exceeds 520 million m3.
Most of the forests are situated on mountain slopes and non-arable lands. The highest mountain peak rises to 2925 m. The timber-line reaches 2200 m above sea-level. Water and soil protection have high significance in Bulgaria. More than half of the land area is sloped 20% or more, and about 60% of the country territory is potentially threatened with erosion. There are 2000 water streams with torrential regime. Bulgarian forests also provide about 85% of the water flow in the country or nearly 3.6 billion m3 of clear drinkable water
 The variety of species, which depends largely on the altitude, is great. Oak forests cover the zone up to 1200 m altitude; beech forests rise up to 1600 m; and the coniferous zone stretches to the upper forest limits.
Only a few tree species are of economic significance. Important among the coniferous are the white pine (Pinus sylvestris), the black pine (Pinus nigra), the spruce (Picea excelsa), the fir tree (Abies alba) and the Balkan pine (Pinus peuce), while among the deciduous are the beech (Fagus sylvatica), the oak (Quercus spp.), the poplar (Populus spp.) and the ash-tree (Fraxinus spp.). About 86.4 percent of the total forested area is destined for wood-production cover; the remainder has protective or recreational functions.
The forest fund in Bulgaria preserves over 80 % of the protected plants and over 60 % of the endangered animal species in the country. In order to protect this diversity, 3 National Parks, 10 Nature Parks, 55 reserves and 35 maintained reserves have been established. About 35 000 employers work in the forest sector, with the greater share being in the forest industry.
The problems in the forest sector during the last years required undertaking of reforms aiming at development of an effective multifunctional forest management system and modern forest industry.
 Bulgaria Forest Development Project
 
In collaboration with the World Bank (WB), the Government of Bulgaria and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MAF) have prepared a Forestry Development Project (FDP) for Bulgaria’s forest sector.
The Project Development Objective is to increase the contribution of forests to the national economy and to the benefit of rural populations through sustainable management of state, private and communal forests. Several consulting teams participated in project preparation.
The total value of the project is 42 million euro with the following sources: 24.5 million euro loan from the World Bank, 6.7 million euro grant from GEF and 11.8 million euro co-funding by the Bulgarian Government.
The draft loan agreement with the World Bank and the grant agreement with GEF were approved by the Council of Ministers on the 19th of April 2004. The two documents were submitted to the Parliament commissions on agriculture and forests and for environment and water for review and request for a mandate for negotiations with the World Bank. The Parliament has not yet given mandate for negotiations to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Agriculture. The project has been suspended by both sides.
Source of the above information fao.org and Radio Bulgaria