The WWF says that Lake Skadar, Hutovo Blato, the Neretva River delta and other wetlands, listed as Ramsar sites of international significance, are faced with a major threat due to their bad management and unsustainable hydropower development.
Countries in this region are among 169 countries signatories to the Ramsar Convention, which obliges them to protect their wetlands. The list of Ramsar sites includes the Croatian nature parks Lonjsko Polje, Kopacki Rit and Lake Vrana, the fish pond Crna Mlaka and the Neretva River delta.
Lonjsko Polje and Kopacki Rit are well-managed nature parks. Apart from being centres of biodiversity, they provide numerous useful services: from flood protection and water purification to provision of natural resources such as wood and fish, to the storing of carbon dioxide and numerous socio-economic services in tourism and recreation, Irma Popovic Dujmovic of the WWF Adria said.
However, the case of the Neretva delta shows how the unsustainable use of a wetland can jeopardise its survival. "A protected Neretva delta offers potential for a future good life of the local community, which should be recognised as an opportunity and not as a threat to development. The mandarins from a nature park would have greater value than mandarins (from the Neretva delta) have today, and local authorities consider that as a threat because they fear legislative restrictions," said Popovic Dujmovic.
The WWF warns that three international protected wetlands in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina - Livanjsko Polje, Hutovo Blato and Bardaca, have been degraded over the past 20 years due to bad practices and disrespect for the rule of law and for domestic and international obligations.
In Montenegro, Lake Skadar, which is considered as one of the most beautiful Balkan lakes and is home to 280 bird species and numerous endemic plant and animal species, is faced with the threat of permanent devastation due to uncontrolled construction and unsustainable hydropower development.
Slovenia boasts three wetland sites that cover an area of 8,205 hectares - Solane Secovlje, Skocjanske Jame and Lake Cerknica. Despite major investments, the three wetlands are still in a poor condition, however, they have been recovering slowly owing to activities financed through the EU programme LIFE.
The ten protected areas in Serbia are listed as Ramsar sites, including wetlands along the Danube River. The WWF says that more than 80% of the wetlands have disappeared in the last 150 years due to the regulation of the Danube River for navigation, farming and construction of hydro-electric power plants.
On the occasion of World Wetlands Day, the Croatian Association for Bird and Nature Protection, the Austrian association Riverwatch and the German foundation for nature protection EuroNature are presenting a white paper on the Sava River, one of the environmentally most important but least known rivers in Europe.
The Sava is the longest Balkan river, 926 kilometres long. It springs in Slovenia and flows into the Danube, it is surrounded by 170,000 hectares of swamp forests and 25,000 hectares of wetland pastures, which makes it a unique river in Europe. Its biodiversity and ecological value are obvious - more than 900 stork pairs nest in villages by the Sava River and more than 80 pairs of white-tailed sea eagle nest in big swamp forests.
This weekend, February 4 and 5, the Zagreb Zoo will organise a lecture on the importance of wetlands as oases of biodiversity and important and endangered global sites.