The summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) is one of the most beautiful plants of Bulgaria’s wetlands. It flowers in April and May in wet meadows and riverside forests, and its white flowers, several to a stem, look like little bells. Because of its medicinal properties the plant was heavily harvested in the past, and the draining of wetlands has taken away much of its natural habitat. Today the species is rare and is placed under a special regime of protection and use in Bulgaria.
The summer snowflake is a demanding plant. It needs moist soil in spring, periodic flooding, and meadows that are not mown or ploughed during flowering and seed-setting. Exactly such conditions exist in the wet parts of Ecopark Vaya.
In 2019 the ecopark set aside the areas where the summer snowflake grows and began targeted work to protect it. This includes maintaining the moisture regime of the soil, excluding these areas from mowing during flowering and seed ripening, and restricting visitor access to them.
Protecting a single plant may seem a small task against the large-scale work of restoring a wetland. But it is precisely such ‘small’ species that show whether a habitat is truly healthy. The summer snowflake cannot simply be ‘planted’ anywhere – it grows only where water, soil and care are in the right balance.
The activity is carried out with our own funds and labour. It is part of Ecopark Vaya’s consistent work to protect not only birds and animals, but also the plants that form the foundation of the wetland.
Every spring the white bells of the summer snowflake appear again in the wet meadows of the ecopark. They are a reminder that even the most delicate inhabitants of nature need protection – and that protection works.
Project summary
Project: Protection of the summer snowflake
Year: 2019
Location: Ecopark Vaya
Activity: setting aside and protecting the summer snowflake areas, maintaining the moisture regime, excluding them from mowing during flowering and seed-setting, restricting access
Funding: own funds and volunteer work
Status: completed, ongoing
Photo: Yoksel Zok / Unsplash