Restoring biodiversity in Obedska Bara with water buffaloes

Thanks to the support of the European Union as part of the project “EU for the Green Agenda in Serbia“, the Obedska Bara Special Nature Reserve has received 19 water buffaloes. By grazing in this area, the water buffaloes will remove the invasive species that endanger the native flora and fauna. This will enlarge the open water areas and create the conditions for the return of the extinct species. In this way, the work previously done by humans and machines is replaced by a natural process that saves considerable resources and time.

"We try to invest as much as possible in biodiversity, but that is not enough. We also need partners to get such projects off the ground. For us, this means putting the European Union's Nature Restoration Law into practise. The Obedska Bara restoration project is a good example of a nature-based solution and working in partnership towards a common goal. Other EU countries, like Romania and France, are implementing the same ideas," said Antoine Avignon, Chapter 27 Desk Officer and Programme Manager for Environment and Climate Action in the EU Delegation to Serbia.

"Thanks to the mix of traditional environmental knowledge and modern conservation practises, the grazing water buffaloes will clean up 25 hectares of wet pastures, ponds and forest edges, and enrich the soil with nutrients. This will increase the local population of birds, insects and fish, but farmers will also benefit from the improved quality of the soil," said Žarko Petrović, Team Leader for Resilient Development at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Serbia.

Anne-Charlotte Malm, Head of Development Cooperation at the Swedish Embassy in Serbia, said that the conservation of wetlands is of great importance to Sweden. In this area, Sweden is cooperating with Serbia through the project “EU for the Green Agenda“ and various other initiatives.

This intervention is part of the solution for the revitalisation of Obedska Bara implemented by JP Vojvodinašume in cooperation with the Society for Protection and Research of Birds in Serbia.

"The active conservation measures we are implementing are desilting the pond and mowing the wetlands to remove the invasive species that threaten biodiversity. Now we will do that with the buffaloes, so we do not need human labour," said Roland Kokai, CEO of JP Vojvodinašume. He also emphasised that the water buffaloes will become a tourist attraction in Obedska Bara.

Thanks to the financial support of the European Union and Switzerland and as part of the project “EU for the Green Agenda“, 26 solutions for biodiversity conservation are being implemented in Serbia.

As part of this project, there are two public calls for proposals for innovative nature-based solutions: the Public call for the improvement of natural values in protected areas and the Public call for the revitalisation of wetlands, which is supported by Sweden.

The project "EU for Green Agenda in Serbia", with the technical and financial support of the European Union and in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is implemented by UNDP in cooperation with Sweden and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with additional funding provided by the governments of Sweden, Switzerland and Serbia.