FIRE IN KOPACKI RIT NATURAL PARK DOES HUGE ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE

KOPACKI RIT, March 12 (Hina) - A fire which on Sunday broke out near the Sakadas Lake within the Kopacki Rit natural park in eastern Croatia, caused huge ecological damage, as the fire-hit area is a habitat of rare species of birds that just at this time start building there nests there. The fire which ravaged between 50 and 1000 hectares of the land was fortunately quickly extinguished, but it threatened the habitat of some rare birds, the natural park's head, Melita Mihaljevic told Hina on Monday. She added that in the period between February and July "people burn, in an uncontrolled way, dry grass, which often causes fires." Yesterday the fire started near the village of Vardarac but the blaze spread very fast to the outskirts of the world-famous natural park of Kopacki Rit (east of the city of Osijek). "We have warned all local authorities and other responsible factors to counter attempts to set dry grass on fire, but obviously, the human factor is again liable for the great damage," she said. Besides, threat is posed by many land mines planted during the occupation of this Croatian area by Serb rebels in early 1990s. Mihaljevic said experimental programmes of mine clearance should start next year. Kopacki Rit, covering 17,700 hectares, is a typical example of central European marshland area which is almost intact. It is the habitat of rare and endangered birds such as rooks or black storks. (hina) ms