THE DIARY GAME SEASON 3: BETTER LIFE 5 APRIL 2021 - A Day in Roussenski Lom Natural Park - Bulgaria

Southwest of Rousse (Ruse), in the immediate vicinity of the Danube, the Roussenski Lom Natural Park, established in 1970 and expanded in 1986, protects over an area of ​​3,408 hectares part of a spectacular canyon both through its landscapes and biodiversity. . A much larger area of ​​32,489 hectares, with an average altitude of 238 m, is designated SCI under the Habitats Directive, and is part of the Natura 2000 network. In the vicinity of the Park area, surrounding this natural gem, there are some quiet hills belonging to The Danube plain, without having anything spectacular or presenting a major value in terms of their biodiversity. But here in the canyon area, the formations created by the interaction of water with limestone rocks, led to the emergence and development of a relief that in addition to being spectacular landscape, also offers a great diversity of microclimates and countless different habitats, necessary for the existence of various communities of organisms, increasing biodiversity to a level 2-3 times higher than that of other areas of similar size but without such a rugged terrain. There are both forest species and dry steppe species (on plateaus), rock species, as well as wet and hygrophilous grassland species, near the water that crosses the canyon.

In a surrounding landscape represented by undulating plateaus / plains, the canyon-like limestone valley area has vertical walls that collapse towards the wide valley floor through which meandering waters flow, sometimes surrounded by swampy areas, sometimes by meadows and pastures with a huge floristic diversity of forests full of vines. The valley is wide, bordered by some limestone walls, which sometimes reach 100 meters high in the most spectacular areas, other times they are only 30-40 m, depending on the section of the hill where the river dug its course. It seems that the most beautiful are the confluence areas, where the converging courses add extra grandeur, where from above you can see how those waters that do not seem very significant, in the millennia slowly a fascinating world through the grandeur of the landscape and complex through the ecosystems / biodiversity installed.

The rock walls, modeled in limestone, sometimes harder and sometimes more friable, present a very interesting microrelief, the product of erosion that has excavated small depressions that give in some areas a lacy appearance. The walls generally have verticals with cave or cave entrances. In cross section, the valley has a U-shape and not a V-shape as we would tend to imagine; so it is something similar to the Dobrogea Gorges in our country, only the dimensions are much more grandiose. The steep walls border a lower area where the accumulated sediments are cut only by the riverbed through which the water flows strongly meandering. The rock walls are interrupted by areas where there are sloping slopes, descending more or less steeply towards the valley, on these slopes are installed forests, hayfields or scattered villages. I hear that in summer the temperatures remain at night at 35 degrees C, when the rocks heat up during the day and the air circulation is very poor. Winter is warmer in the valley, while frosty winds sweep the plateau.

The limestones in this area were deposited in the warm sea that covered the area about 120 million years ago. These limestone deposits were subjected to great pressures and became fragmented during the uplift of the mountains that form the Alpine-Himalayan system, which includes both the Carpathians and Stara Planina (parallel to the Southern Carpathians). Looking at these fragmented limestones and presenting characteristic karst aspects (countless caves and caverns), I inevitably ask myself the question: how big must have been?

1. the diversity of the species of marine organisms that led to the formation of limestones, and on the other hand
2. of terrestrial organisms that took refuge in caves and fissures and left fossil traces in the countless such places conducive to preserving traces of the existence of the living…?

There are several rivers on the territory of the park, whose name translates Black Lom, Small Lom, White Lom, ‘lom’ meaning a stream between rock walls. These waters join, eventually forming the course called Roussenski Lom, Lomul de la Ruse. In fact, the Roussenski Lom River (taken in a broad sense, so the whole course) has a length of 197 km, and unlike other tributaries of the Danube, it has its sources at a relatively low altitude, in the Danube Plain; it is the last major tributary on the right bank of the river. All these watercourses that cross the karst area have a very winding trajectory, with many tangled meanders, there are situations when the waters cross a loop and pass through the vicinity of the area where ‘they have already been’. The water of the rivers is permanently full of sand and other suspensions, gathered from the landscapes they cross before entering the karst area, a situation that gives the water a color of "coffee with milk". Here on the lower course, before flowing into the Danube, they deposit a large amount of transported materials, creating sandbanks, muds, alluvial lands in which new meanders develop, as part of the evolution of the landscape, the permanent transformation of nature.