BULGARIA

HOW IS BULGARIA ORGANISED TO GET ENGAGED IN IPBES

Bulgaria’s main channel for interaction with IPBES is through the IPBES NFP at the NCA – the Ministry of Environment and Water. The NFP receives all notifications and other relevant information. Then it informs all relevant stakeholders and describes the activities that have to be undertaken at national level. The NFP also organises and coordinates the processes such as peer-review of documents, nomination of experts, preparation of national positions for the Plenaries, etc.

NOMINATION PROCESS 

When there are calls for nomination of experts for workshops, assessments, or other activities, the NFP prepares an official letter to the relevant stakeholders to invite them to make nominations to the Ministry of Environment and Water. The stakeholders are also informed when the nomination can be done by channels other than the NFP. When the proposals have been received, the NFP examines them and, on the basis of the qualifications, decides which ones should be officially nominated to IPBES. Then, all nominated people are informed and the NFP assists the ones that have been chosen with their submission and thenvalidates the nomination(s). 

CONTRIBUTION TO THE IPBES WORK PROGRAMME 

The NCA and the NFP initiated a series of information events targeted at the administration, academia and various stakeholders to introduce and involve them in the activities of IPBES. By October 2020, only one meeting has taken place due to the introduction of sanitary measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When there are calls for nomination of experts for workshops, assessments, or other activities, the NFP prepares an official letter to the relevant stakeholders to invite them to make nominations and then supports the process of submission and validation. 

When draft documents are received for review, the NFP performs an initial analysis. Then, it invites the relevant stakeholders to participate in the peer-review,coordinates the process, and sends the final review form. In addition, the Ministry performs its own in-house review of the documents.

TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS

In March 2020, the NFP launched a series of information events targeted at the administration, academia and various stakeholders to introduce and involve them in the activities of IPBES. By October 2020, only one meeting has taken place due to the introduction of sanitary measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. More meetings are planned to be held for when the situation allows it. We are currently examining the possibility for online events.

After the first meeting a mailing list of people (so far from academia and administration) interested in the work of IPBES was created for them to be  informed about any relevant news and activities.