The Kamchia Reserve

In 1951 the centuries-old Longoz wood (a tangle of woods) around the river Kamchia was proclaimed a national reserve so that the natural state of this last-of-the-kind wood environmental system to be preserved. The Kamchia wood looks like a jungle – unique, thick, damp and difficult to pass vegetation, interlaced by climbing plants, reaching up to 50m. The reserve spreads on an area of 842 ha of cove forests at the mouth of the river Kamchia, covered with water-weeds. The vegetation here is the most exuberant one in whole Europe. Nearly 40 wood species grow in this unique scenery as most of them are 150 years old and reach a height of 30-35m. The fauna is none the less rich. The most specific feature of the Longoz forest is the periodic overflows due to the changes in the river level. The spring overflows and the sand dunes favour the growth of some rare species, listed in Bulgaria’s Red Book of the threatened species. Some of the most interesting nooks in the reserve are the two quagmires – the Lesinski and the Mazniya ones, where the wild nature is almost virgin.

Location