Stara Planina Natural Park in Serbia is a vast area of mountainous grassland landscape in central Europe. The region is particularly important for plant diversity; the mixture of forest, scrubland, grassland and bogs provide a unique habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. For thousands of years this landscape has been maintained through grazing by large herbivores – both wild animals and traditional breeds of livestock. However, in recent years the habitats have started to degrade and the area is under threat, including from over-grazing by concentrated areas of sheep and cattle, and changes in agricultural practices and rural culture. In addition, climate change is impacting how well the grasslands can recover from degradation.
In order to restore and protect this ancient mountain landscape, our local partners in the region are working on an exciting rewilding project. This involves a return to managing the habitats as they had been for thousands of years through low intensity grazing by large herbivores. Currently, the team are using traditional hardy livestock breeds such as the Stara Planina horse and Busha cattle. However, the ultimate goal is to reintroduce wild European bison – an important species which used to roam the plains and mountain pastures of central Europe but has been extinct in the wild in the Balkans for hundreds of years.
To ensure the success of this project, the local ranger teams need to have the right equipment to patrol and monitor the park, the grazing animals and other wildlife. We are delighted to have been able to support them by providing funds for boots to ensure they can work safely to protect this ancient landscape.
