Uvac Special Nature Reserve
Uvac | |
---|---|
Serbian Cyrillic: Увац | |
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
Location | Serbia |
Nearest city | Nova Varoš, Sjenica |
Coordinates | 43°25′37″N 19°56′03″E / 43.426962°N 19.934295°E |
Area | 75.43 km2 (29.12 sq mi) |
Established | 1971 |
Visitors | 12,000 (in summer 2017) |
Specijalni rezervat prirode Uvac |
The Uvac Special Nature Reserve (
Location
The reserve is located in the southwestern Serbia, in the municipalities of Nova Varoš (approximately 2/3) and Sjenica (1/3) in the Zlatibor District. The protected area is elongated and comprises the valley of the Uvac river, including the Uvac Gorge.[1]
Geography
Geographically, the Uvac valley is part of the
There are 12 arranged lookouts in the gorge. The most popular three are Veliki Krš ("Great Karst"), Veliki Vrh ("Great Peak") and Molitva ("Prayer"). The best known panoramic images of the gorge were made from these three points.[2]
The terrain is
Waters of the Uvac river are used for three hydroelectric power stations within the reserve, each one with an artificial lake: Bistrica with Radoinja Lake (1960), Kokin Brod with Zlatar Lake (1962) and Sjenica with Sjenica Lake (1979).[5]
Wildlife
Plants
There are 219 plant species in the reserve. Of them, 3 are of international importance, 3 are listed in the
Animals
In the Uvac river and its tributaries within the reserve, there are 24 species of fish. Clean water in rivers and reservoirs are natural spawning locations for
Mammalian fauna includes
Birds
The main attraction in the reserve is the
There was a flock which dwelled around Trebinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Bosnian War broke out in 1992, they relocated to Uvac.[8] Situation began to improve when in 1994 the Manastirina feeding ground was established. By 2017, the number of griffon vultures grew to 110 nesting couples and almost 500 birds altogether. That is the largest colony of griffon vultures in the Balkans and one of the largest in Europe, with probably only colony in Spain being larger.[1][4][6][7] As the population grew, in 2011 it was decided to return some birds to repopulate the Trebinje area again. First specimen were resettled in 2015.[8][9]
The griffon vultures from Uvac roam all over the
As the population is thriving, there are less and less suitable locations for the nesting in the reserve. In 2009, a project for
The camera, which is installed at the feeding ground, recorded the showing of two other vulture species which were extinct from these areas:
In 2017 the environmentalists warned that excessive tourism endangers the griffon vultures. The touristic guides often divert from the boat touristic routes, bring the tourists closer to the nests and even scare the birds so that they would fly and tourists can photograph them. In 2016/17, of the nests along the boat route, 12 were abandoned, 6 collapsed and from 2 the chicks fell out.[11] Still, the birds got accustomed to the visitors. When tourists visit the lookouts, birds began to fly above, as they are expecting food. The chicks are so well fed, that instead of weighing 8 to 9 kg (18 to 20 lb), some weigh up to 12 to 13 kg (26 to 29 lb) and fall into the lakes. The rangers pick them up and return to the nests, until they lose some weight and learn to fly. In the summer season of 2017 there were 12,000 visitors.[4]
By the late 2018 there were almost 150 nesting couples of various vultures, and 600 individual birds. Tracking shows that, on average, one vulture flies for some 40 km (25 mi) daily, in the circling patterns. The massive terrace-like bolder which birds use to take off, is called the "Castle of griffons".[2] Birds continued to spread and, by 2020, trackers were placed on 327 individual birds, which have been spotted on 4,000 locations in 22 countries. Seven birds have been tracked via satellites.[12]
In August 2020, several chicks drowned when a helicopter flew low over the gorge, and scared the birds which jumped into the water. Environmentalist have been warning about this at least since 2018. At the same time, the pro-government media tycoon Željko Mitrović posted a video of him piloting the helicopter above the Uvac on his Twitter account. This caused a public fervor, but the authorities claimed they have no idea who was flying over.[13][14][15] As a result, the government adopted a decision on conditional no-fly zone over the Uvac, and few other protected areas (Trešnjica, Mileševka).[16]
Griffin vulture has its place in cultural, mythological and folk beliefs. People believed that the bird is clairvoyant and that it could live for over 500 years. It was described as the go-between for gods, people and underworld, and a just bird which never kills for the fun of it, but only takes what is his. The vulture was believed to be able to predict storms and was not to be harmed or the family of bird's killer will invoke the wrath of gods. Some folklorists believe that Serbian eagle, represented on the coat of arms of Serbia, was patterned after the griffin vulture.[12] However, like in the case several other European coats of arms, eastern imperial eagle was the more probable source. Unlike griffin vultures, there was no attempt at human preservation of eastern imperial eagle population, which by 2018 and full abundance of vultures, was reduced in Serbia to only one nesting couple.[17][18]
Protection
The Uvac region was declared a protected area in 1971.[19] Today it covers an area of 75.43 km2 (29.12 sq mi).[1] In 2008, it was voted one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Serbia.[20]
In October 2018 the water level in the lake plunged for some 20 m (66 ft) in 20 days, but the level was generally going down for two months. The boats left on shore would get stranded for over 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) of dry land over night. The water was used by the
In 2019, Institute for nature conservation of Serbia drafted a new study on reserve's protection and sent it to the government. In April 2021 the government announced that the reserve's area will be enlarged, from 75.43 square kilometres (29.12 sq mi) to 117.46 square kilometres (45.35 sq mi). A highest level of protection, level I, will be introduced in some parts. All vessels will have to switch to electric engines. Lake Radoinja will be placed under the special system of protection, which will include total ban on vessels or swimming.[23]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Darko Ćirović (2017). "Kraljevstvo beloglavog supa" (in Serbian).
- ^ a b Aleksandra Petrović (9 September 2018). "Pod krilima zaštićenog oral" [Under the wings of protected eagle]. Politika (in Serbian). pp. 08–09.
- ^ "Najduže pećine i jame Srbije" (in Serbian). Akademski speleološko-alpinistički klub. 3 February 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Slavica Stuparušić (19 September 2017). "Prošlo hiljade turista, a nigde smeća" (in Serbian). Politika. p. 08.
- ^ "Uvačka jezera" (in Serbian). 2017.
- ^ a b c Branka Vasiljević (14 May 2017). "Sara na Uvac doletela po mladoženju" (in Serbian). Politika. p. 08.
- ^ N1.
- ^ a b Branko Pejović (10 December 2011). "Beloglavi sup leti do Jemena i Izraela" [Griffon vultures fly to Yemen and Israel]. Politika (in Serbian).
- ^ Infobijeljina.com (6 July 2015). "Vraća se u Popovo polje: Bjeloglavi sup iz Uvca stiže u Trebinje" [Return to Popovo Polje: griffon vultures arrive from Uvac to Trebinje]. Trebinje Live (in Serbian).
- ^ Трагичан крај белоглавог супа Добриле [Tragic end of the griffon vulture Dobrila]. Politika (in Serbian). 6 December 2019. p. 12.
- ^ a b Branka Vasiljević (5 September 2017), "Nekontrolisane posete turista ugrožavaju opstanak beloglavnog supa", Politika (in Serbian), p. 14
- ^ a b c Branka Vasiljević (13 July 2020). "Četiri decenije borbe za opstanak svete ptice Srbije" [Four decades of fighting for the Serbian holy bird]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 8.
- ^ Sanja Sovrlić (6 August 2020). "Želja za pogledom na Uvac iz helikoptera ugrožava živote malih beloglavih supova" [Desire for aerial view on Uvac from helicopters endangers lives of young griffin vultures] (in Serbian). N1.
- ^ Gordana Petković (7 August 2020). "Mitrović nadletao helikopterom Uvac i ubio supove" [Mitrović flew over Uvac in helicopter and killed vultures] (in Serbian). Nova S.
- ^ "Direktno: Ko je dao, ili nije, dozvolu Željku Mitroviću da helikopterom leti u zaštićenom području Uvca?" [Direktno: who has, or hasn't, given the permission to Željko Mitrović to fly in helicopter in the protected area of Uvac?] (in Serbian). Nova Srpska Politička Misao. 8 August 2020.
- ^ Slavica Stuparušić (12 January 2021). "Pod zaštitom 400 hektara" [400 hectares under protection]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 33.
- ^ "Od beloglavog supa do orla krstaša – ko vodi brigu o simbolima Srbije?" [From griffin vulture to eastern imperial eagle - who takes care of Serbia's symbols?]. National Geographic Srbija (in Serbian). 12 March 2018.
- Radio Television Serbia (4 June 2018). "Jedini preostali par orlova krstaša dobio prinovu: Krsta, Srba, Lala - originalne ideje za ime mladunca"[Last remaining couple of eastern imperial eagles has a baby - original ideas for nestling's name]. National Geographic Srbija (in Serbian).
- ^ "Uvac River Meanders". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ A.Cvetićanin (9 July 2017), "Uvac – skriveni dragulj Evrope", Politika (in Serbian), p. 20
- ^ Branko Pejović (19 October 2018). "Da li je EPS ugrozio floru i faunu jezera Uvac" [Is EPS endangering the flaura and the fauna of the Lake Uvac]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 09.
- ^ Nikola Kočović (14 October 2018). ""Uništiše nam jezero" Uvac potpuno presušio na pojedinim delovima, vodostaj opao 20 metara za dva meseca" ["They are destroying the lake" Uvac completely dried out in some sections, water level fell 20 meters in two months]. Blic (in Serbian).
- ^ Branka Vasiljević (21 April 2021). Предложен нови режим заштите резервата "Увац" [Proposition on the new regime of protection for the "Uvac" reserve]. Politika (in Serbian). p. 7.