The usual activities under the working title “Ecological Action” were carried out at Obedska Bara on the first weekend of November. Although the weather was not favorable to the participants, the achieved results are worthy of attention. This time, around 150 volunteers gathered, many of them with their offspring, for whom this action was primarily intended.

The focus of this ecological action was building a playground for children, but not an ordinary one that can be found everywhere, but a special one – for children with special needs. Of course, all other children can use the new grounds, and this time they actively participated in the construction and especially in “testing” the completed works.

The plan and program envisaged that in the area of Obedska Bara, in addition to building an eco-park, or playground entirely built from natural materials, volunteers would also work on landscaping the surroundings. Namely, any physical activity of children is more pleasant and healthier in an environmentally friendly environment, so on this occasion, flower planting was organized, in accordance with the habitat conditions of this location.

Obedska Bara, as its name suggests, is also known for its water surfaces, which are naturally filled. At this moment, they are at a very low water level, so the well-coordinated team of Discover Serbia with specialized shallow-draft vessels was ideal for solving the current problems of the pond and shoreline.

For transporting volunteers during waste collection, eco-friendly means of transport were used – boats from the ecological fleet of the Discover Serbia organization, whose formation was aided by companies Coca-Cola and Epson.

Parents will now be able to bring their little ones, who will be able to play carefree and develop much-needed motor skills in the newly formed park, cleaned shoreline, and waters. Let’s remember, today’s generations are tied to indoor spaces, dedicated to mobile devices and the internet, so few of them engage in necessary physical activities. Now this is also enabled, in fresh air and in a perfect environment.

To make navigation in the entire area of Obedska Bara easier and simpler, volunteers from the Discover Serbia association participated in creating signs that guide visitors in the desired direction and suggest what they can encounter, what to pay attention to, and so on.

Discover Serbia is an association under the leadership of a graduate forestry engineer, Vladimir Pavlović. So, a “man of the profession” who knows very well what nature needs and what must be done to maintain it in its original form and provide users with everything they need for a quality life. So, here we are talking about clean water and unpolluted air, healthy and fertile soil as well as an abundance of flora and fauna.

One of the society’s activities is inviting and gathering socially responsible companies to join the ecological activities of Discover Serbia, and through their participation contribute to improving the ecological awareness of all inhabitants of our beautiful country. We only have this one, so it’s worth taking care of its “health”.

Numerous actions carried out in the past period have led to results worth boasting about: actions “Let’s Clean the Rivers of Serbia”, “Let’s Improve for Children” or “Let’s Afforest Serbia”, resulted in more than 18 thousand planted seedlings of various tree species, more than 30 tons of waste collected and properly disposed of, and more.

Dipl. Eng. of Forestry Vladimir Pavlović

Let’s remind ourselves a bit about this natural biodiversity, its location and what it basically offers. This was explained to us by Ivana Lozjanin, an independent environmental protection officer for the Srem area and protected areas under the management of the “Vojvodina Forests” company.

On this occasion, she emphasized that Obedska Bara is an area that extends in the southeastern part of Srem over an area of 9,820 hectares, with an exceptionally long tradition of nature conservation.

The history of this locality is very long, dating back to 1874, and it is the second protected area in Srem. The southern border of the Obedska Bara reserve is the Sava River, and the reserve itself is a network of different ecosystem units. More precisely, there are three: Kupinske grede, Kupinski kut, and Obeške širine, which extends across the Grabovačko-Vitovačko island.

The fundamental values of the reserve are different ecosystem conditions that represent an exceptional richness of biodiversity, both plant and animal. In Obedska Bara, rich systems of forests, swamps, wet meadows, and pond ecosystems can be found.

Characteristics of the Reserve

It should certainly be mentioned that Obedska Bara is an abandoned meander of the Sava River, 13.5 km long. Therefore, it is logical that this floodplain area is a natural retention for water purification during high water levels, covering an area of 12 thousand hectares. In such situations, all ponds and swamps are filled with fresh water, and this is the key factor that brings life to this reserve.

If we look at the trees, or the forest, it covers about 70 percent of the reserve’s area. Here we can encounter pedunculate oak, ash trees, and there are also willows, poplars, and related tree species.

Besides forests, Obedska Bara is known as an ornithological reserve, which means it abounds with various bird species. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, this was a hunting ground where marsh birds were hunted. At that time, the making of caps and hats decorated with marsh bird feathers was particularly popular.

The great popularity of this type of “sport” led the nobility of the time to consider putting the area under protection, as there was a danger that the entire bird habitat would be exterminated and they would no longer be present in the Obedska Bara area. From an ecological point of view, this is not good at all, so a law was passed putting Obedska Bara under state protection.

What’s Happening Today?

Vital revitalization and rehabilitation projects of the current state are currently the most topical in the Obedska Bara area. It is, let’s remember, protected as an exceptionally important wetland habitat. Current climate changes are not favorable to the natural maintenance of this location’s condition, so ecological actions are necessary to maintain Obedska Bara in its original form.

The proximity to large cities makes Obedska Bara an ideal eco-tourism destination – it’s only 40 kilometers away from Belgrade.

The development of eco-tourism in this area dates back to the beginning of the 21st century, since when special attention has been paid to building a park for visitors.

These activities included work on walking trails, a complex of forest cabins, bird watching viewpoints, bicycle paths, then popularization of recreational fishing, rowing boat rides (ecological fleet), and other interesting contents that make this place ideal for family vacations, especially now that a playground for children has been built.

The young generation is – simply put, delighted with the new content. Children took the opportunity to thoroughly test everything that parents and their like-minded people built that day. And that means they played in the open area, socialized, and exchanged opinions.

They used all the options that the newly built playgrounds offer, so the little ones had a great time and expressed a desire to return soon to Obedska Bara.

Children took an active part in building the playground, helping their parents according to their abilities. Certainly, they really liked the whole action, so many of them wanted to participate in similar multidisciplinary events. These are, of course, planned, as well as new team building events.