Chapter 6: Country Reports
Bulgaria
Introduction
After a flourishing of environmental NGOs following the political changes in Bulgaria, both in Sofia and throughout the country, there has been a noticeable decline in public interest and involvement in environmental problems, paralleled by the stagnation of the environmental movement. According to the catalogue of Bulgarian NGOs, published with the support of the REC in 1993, there were 115 official NGOs in Bulgaria. This period coincided with changes in the political and economic arena, where priorities unfortunately pushed environmental protection into the background. A declining economy, lower living standards, and the everyday struggle of people for survival under conditions of high unemployment and inflation have left their negative imprint on the further development of environmental organizations. This is directly reflected both in the difficulties experienced by existing organizations, some of which have been forced to disband, and in the emergence of new organizations. Therefore, in spite of Bulgarian NGOs' strong and ambitious programs, the period since 1993 has been marked to a great extent by lower activity and apathy, and by the constant search for the minimum financial resources necessary for the movement's continued survival. In spite of these difficulties, organizations that have found external support continue to implement their programs.
Organizational Characteristics
Most NGOs (53 percent) were established between 1989 and 1990. After that period, interest declined and there are now only eight NGOs established each year. Geographically, over half of the groups (54 percent) are located in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital city; one-fifth (21 percent) are located in mid- and large-sized urban centers; and about one-quarter (25 percent) of Bulgaria's NGOs are located in small towns. The largest number of NGOs (35 percent) have between 10 and 25 members, and 16 percent have memberships of between 50 and 500. Half of Bulgarian NGOs (50 percent) operate on the national level, 10 percent operate on the regional level, and 16 percent operate on the local level. Only 2.6 percent operate at the international level.
Activities
The most common activities in Bulgaria are disseminating environmental information (73 percent), environmental field work (49 percent), and education and training (48 percent).
Financial Status
Most NGOs in Bulgaria are operating under unstable (29 percent) or poor (38 percent) financial circumstances; only 1.3 percent have no financial problems. About half of the groups (44 percent) operate with annual budgets less than USD 500, while 38 percent have annual budgets of between USD 500 and USD 5000. The majority of NGOs (35 percent) receive funding from foreign and external sources. Grants from the REC are a critical source of funding for about one-third (32 percent) of all Bulgarian NGOs.
Needs and Problems
The most frequently mentioned problem among Bulgarian NGOs is insufficient funding, with almost half of the groups (49 percent) claiming it as their number one problem. About one-fifth of the NGOs (19 percent) cite it as their second most important problem, and another 12 percent consider it their organization's third most pressing problem. General legal problems, related to imperfections in Bulgarian legislation, is also at the top of the list of problems for 18 percent of the NGOs. The third-largest problem is limited access to modern communication equipment, a major problem for nine percent of the country's NGOs.
The most important types of support requested by Bulgarian NGOs are assistance with the institutional development of the organization (40 percent) and support for the implementation of a particular local, regional or national environmental project (26 percent). Assistance in creating, maintaining or developing environmental information networks; collecting and disseminating information; and supporting the implementation of environmental projects tackling transboundary problems were requested in equal proportions about 12 percent of the time.
Cooperation
Just over one-third (36 percent) of Bulgarian NGOs conduct joint projects with other local and regional NGOs, while another one-third (31 percent) conduct joint projects with national groups. Only 10 percent of the groups have no working relationships with other NGOs. Regarding cooperation with environmental NGOs from other CEE countries, 16 percent conduct joint projects with similar organizations in other CEE countries, and one-fifth (19 percent) conduct joint projects with Western or other international environmental NGOs.
The level of cooperation with central and local authorities is not as good as with other NGOs. Only four percent of Bulgarian NGOs believe that cooperation with the national government is close and constructive, and only six percent cooperate with other national governmental bodies and agencies. Cooperation with government officials on the local level is much better: 18 percent admit to having close and constructive cooperation with local governments, and 19 percent cooperate with local government agencies.
More than two-thirds of Bulgarian NGOs (70 percent) consider cooperation with other national NGOs is critically important to the effectiveness of their work; one-fifth (20 percent) consider such cooperation somewhat important; and only nine percent do not value cooperation with other NGOs. Cooperation with neighboring NGOs is important for approximately half of Bulgarian NGOs (49 percent), but almost one-quarter (23 percent ) don't keep cooperative contacts with NGOs in neighboring countries. Bulgarian NGOs demonstrate the greatest amount of interest (80 percent) in cooperating with similar NGOs in Western countries or with (more experienced) international organizations. More than half (64 percent) consider cooperation with national authorities very important for their work.
Experience with the Regional Environmental Center
The REC (both head office and the local office) is considered a traditional partner and the most important source of funding by most Bulgarian environmental NGOs. This conclusion is based on the following figures: one-third of the NGOs that responded to the questionnaire consider REC Head Office a traditional partner, while the REC Local Office in Sofia is considered a traditional partner by 73 percent of the groups. About half of Bulgarian NGOs (42 percent) have received an Earmarked Grant at least once, and about two-thirds have received a Local Grant either once or on multiple occasions. Members from about 10 percent of Bulgarian NGOs have taken part in the Junior Fellowship Program. In the future, 70 percent of the NGOs are planning to apply for Local and Danube Grants, and 36 percent will definitely apply for an Earmarked Grant. The REC, both the Szentendre and Sofia offices, were mentioned as very useful in the categories of grant giving (58 percent), information dissemination (38 percent), technical assistance (26 percent), environmental campaigning (21 percent), training (20 percent) and networking (8 percent). There are about 40 other international organizations supporting the work and activities of environmental NGOs in Bulgaria, including the Open Society Foundation, WWF, PHARE, MilieuKontakt-Oost Europa, Civil Society Development Foundation, Friends of the Earth and Green Peace.
Conclusion
Six years after political and economic change came to Bulgaria, many of its NGOs are still in the initial phase of development and are taking their first steps toward independence. Inexperience, discordant legislation and an inadequate amount of local financial support all limit the scope of environmental protection work. This is particularly true for small grassroots organizations that find it difficult to obtain the international financial support that is concentrated in the capital. For these reasons the programs of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe enjoy particular popularity among Bulgaria's nongovernmental organizations.
The REC Local Office's top priorities for the coming years include special attention to training and capacity-building programs for national and grassroots organizations. Only in this manner can NGOs fulfill their purpose and become a strong public instrument for the implementation of a unified national policy of environmental protection.
REC * PUBLICATIONS * PROBLEMS, PROGRESS AND POSSIBILITIES * COUNTRY REPORTS
