Representatives of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from Serbia and Montenegro and the Discover Serbia team took part together in a forest restoration action on Kopaonik.

On September 12, 2026, a volunteer reforestation action was carried out, during which 1,000 container-grown spruce seedlings were planted over an area of approximately half a hectare.

The action was attended by 38 representatives of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from Serbia and Montenegro, with support from six members of the Discover Serbia team.

The site selected for reforestation was along the Markov Kamen hiking trail, one of Kopaonik’s well-known landmarks. This is a forest area where a large number of trees had previously dried out. After removing the dead trees, restoring the terrain, and preparing the site, conditions were created for forest recovery by planting new seedlings.

The terrain itself posed an additional challenge for participants. In some parts of the area, there are granodiorite rocks, characteristic of Kopaonik’s geological structure, which meant planting required significantly more physical effort and careful selection of the spot for each seedling.

Despite the demanding conditions, the volunteers managed to meet the planned goal during the initiative and plant all 1,000 spruce seedlings.

The initiative gained special value from the participation of a large number of young people, who, through hands-on fieldwork, had the opportunity to directly contribute to restoring Kopaonik’s forest ecosystem.

An added value of the project is linking the reforestation initiative with the City&Me app, which encourages citizens to move more and adopt more sustainable everyday habits through the concept of “green challenges.”

Through the app, users can take part in monthly challenges, collect tokens by walking, cycling, and other activities, and then redeem them for various rewards, including planting a tree.

As part of this project, the seedlings will be linked to the City&Me community, so users who reach the current month’s goal of 130,000 steps will be eligible to claim their own seedling. In this way, the concept connects an individual’s physical activity with a tangible contribution to nature restoration: thousands of steps turn into a new tree. Rewarding users for 130,000 steps with a tree-planting token is already part of City&Me’s concept of monthly green challenges.

This gives the Kopaonik initiative another dimension. Some people restored the forest directly in the field, while others will contribute through everyday movement and by joining the City&Me community.

For Discover Serbia, this initiative is an example of how a volunteer program can deliver a tangible, long-term result on the ground, while also encouraging others to become part of the same green story through their everyday habits.

A thousand new seedlings today marks the beginning of a forest restoration process that will unfold at this site in the years and decades to come.

1,000 seedlings. 44 participants. 130,000 steps for a new tree. One shared goal: restoring Kopaonik’s forest.