1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Sofia
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Залесяване на 3000 дървета в парк "Западен" от доброволци
Short description of the intervention
3000 trees were planted on 7 decares of land by 500 volunteers in park Zapaden on Earth day (22 April) in 2017. The initiative was supported by the Municipality of Sofia, and had the aim of making the city cleaner, greener, and more beautiful. The initiative also compensated for the illegal logging which had taken place in the park. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Address

1373 Sofia
Bulgaria

Location
The NBS is situated in an area, with clear delineation of boundaries and a specific shape (polygon). The NBS project can also have more than one area location (more than one polygon, situated close by).
Area boundary
POINT (23.288517 42.712478)
POINT (23.275943 42.708884)
POINT (23.271695 42.710713)
POINT (23.279377 42.717082)
NBS area image
Source of NBS area image
https://visitsofia.bg/en/item/2223-the-renovation-of-zapaden-park-in-sofia-has-begun
Total area
7000.00m²
NBS area
7000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Public Greenspace Area
Website of the intervention
https://greentech.bg/archives/71775
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2017
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2017
End date of the intervention
2017
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
Help make Sofia greener, more beautiful, and reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Quantitative targets
Plant 3000 trees (Ref. 1)
Monitoring indicators defined
trees planted (Ref. 1)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Combatting crime and corruption
Please specify "other Type of NBS project"
combat illegal logging: The initiative also compensated for the illegal logging which had taken place in the park. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Implementation activities
Help make Sofia greener, more beautiful, and reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3).
Mobilizing volunteers by providing them with planting tools and materials to plant trees and clean the park.(Ref. 1; Ref. 2)
The initiative also compensated for the illegal logging which had taken place in the park. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Other
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Vegetation Type
Trees
Please specify how many trees were planted
3000 trees (Ref. 1)
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Raw materials
Regulating services
Air quality regulation
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Mental and physical health and wellbeing
Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Please specify other local relevant strategy
tree planting initiative: The municipality partnered up with the citizen initiative 'When we Become 100 000 - we will Plant a Forest', in order to mobilize volunteers and provide them with materials and tools to plant the trees (Ref. 2; Ref. 3).
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The municipality partnered up with the citizen initiative 'When we Become 100 000 - we will Plant a Forest', in order to mobilize volunteers and provide them with materials and tools to plant the trees (Ref. 2; Ref. 3).
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Unknown
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
The municipality partnered up with the citizen initiative 'When we Become 100 000 - we will Plant a Forest', in order to mobilize volunteers and provide them with materials and tools to plant the trees (Ref. 2; Ref. 3).
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Other
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The municipality partnered up with the citizen initiative 'When we Become 100 000 - we will Plant a Forest', in order to mobilize volunteers and provide them with materials and tools to plant the trees (Ref. 2; Ref. 3).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
No
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Donations were made (Ref 2, 3)
Source(s) of funding
Other
Please specify other source of funding
Donations (Ref 2, 3)
Type of fund(s) used
Donations
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of land
Provision of goods
Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Green densification model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Technological
Please specify technological innovation
3000 new trees were introduced to the area, thereby helping make the place greener, more appealing, and helping reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Other tree planting events have been organised by the same group prior to the afforestation of park Zapaden (When we Become 100 000 - we will plant a forest) (Ref. 4).
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Other tree planting events have been organised by the same group following the afforestation of park Zapaden (When we Become 100 000 - we will plant a forest) (Ref. 4).
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
3000 new trees were introduced to the area, thereby helping make the place greener more appealing, and helping reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Economic impacts
Unknown
Please specify other socio-cultural impact
made city more appealing (Ref 2, 3)
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Other
Description of social and cultural benefits
3000 new trees were introduced to the area, thereby helping make the place greener, more appealing, and helping reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
3000 trees were planted (Ref. 2)
While helping reduce air pollution (Ref. 2; Ref. 3) is mentioned as an impact, it is not measured.
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
The project occurred on a single day and involved planting trees, thus no impacts on the project from the pandemic.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1. Article about the event
List of references
Ref. 1. GreenTech.bg (2017). Доброволци засаждат 3000 дръвчета в Западен парк в София. [online] available at: https://greentech.bg/archives/71775 [Accessed 3 September 2020]
Ref. 2. Facebook (2017). КОГАТО СТАНЕМ 100 000 - ЩЕ ПОСАДИМ ГОРА. [online] available at: https://www.facebook.com/100000.GORA/ [Accessed 3 September 2020]
Ref. 3. Когато станем 100 000 - ще посадим гора (2017). София засажда 3 000 дървета с доброволци. [online] available at: http://www.gorata.bg/content/sofiya-zasazhda-3-000-drveta-s-dobrovolci [Accessed 3 September 2020]
Ref. 4. Когато станем 100 000 - ще посадим гора (2017). Минали събития. [online] available at: http://www.gorata.bg/past-events (accessed 27 July 2017). [Accessed 3 September 2020]
Comments and notes
Comments
2017 comment:
An e-mail was sent asking for information about sections 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. If they don't reply, I will call them.

2020 comment:
No information found in the questionnaire regarding the abovementioned efforts.
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/volunteers_afforestation_of_park_zapaden.jpg
Public Images
3000 tree planting event at Zapaden Park
https://www.dnes.bg/sofia/2017/04/22/stolichani-zasadiha-3-000-dyrveta-v-zapaden-park.338868,image5#photo
3000 tree planting event at Zapaden Park
https://www.dnes.bg/sofia/2017/04/22/stolichani-zasadiha-3-000-dyrveta-v-zapaden-park.338868,image5#photo