REPUBLIC OF SERBIA
Zasavica Clenup Underway
The Special Nature Reserve Zasavica joined "Let's Clean up Serbia" campaign by cleaning up the Modran Canal- said Ivica Radovic, Prof. PhD. State Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning and added that in the following two months the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning shall concentrate its attention to ongoing activities in the protected nature reserves.
The 33 kilometers long watercourse of the River Zasavica runs through the untouched nature. This reserve is the oasis for about 700 plant species, 187 bird species and 24 fish species. In 2004 thanks to the Bavarian government and their donation, the European beaver was reintroduced to its natural habitats on Zasavica territory after being extinct in Serbia for a long time. The most polluted area of the reserve is confluence of the River Zasavica's into the Sava.
- People should realize that waste is not litter but a resource. Thus, we are currently working on making bylaws and the National Strategy for Waste Management -stressed Radović. He pointed out that the Ministry could allocate some funds from Serbia's Eco Fund in order to help the purchase of the much needed equipment and infrastructure for the landfill clean up. However, unless the attitude and awareness of the local population change this support shall not have any significant impact.
There are about 150 small wild landfills in the Zasavica Reserve that are going to be cleaned up in three months' time.