Aspects of conservation of wetland birds within the protected natural objects in Serbia

Abstract

Bird species such as mergansers, grebes, ducks, geese and swans spend winter on the larger rivers in Serbia, primarily on the Danube. There is also a large number of other wetland birds (herons, storks and ibises) that are transcontinental migrants, which during migration stop at various wetlands in Serbia, in order to rest and renew the fat reserves. A significant number of these stopovers is included in the list of IBA (Important Bird Area), but only three area are protected by Ramsar convention and represent Special Nature Reserves. The goal of this paper is to present the real role and importance of IBA areas in Serbia as bird stopovers, as well as their importance in conservation of these birds. Besides the necessity that Serbia and Montenegro must sign and ratify AEWA (African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement), it is also important to implement the conservation on national level. Especially as the concentration of overwintering or only passing birds in certain “protected” areas is so large, the number of killed birds increases each year. In order to better preserve the bird stock in IBA areas, and using the data collected by bird ringing and recaptures as well as through the monitoring of birds, it is necessary to form a network of reserves in which the birds congregate most often during migration, and further implement the active protection and strict control of hunting and hunting tourism which are in discordance with the international aspect of bird conservation