Gornje Podunavlje

Gornje Podunavlje ( German: Upper Danube valley ) is a nature reserve in the district Zapadna Bačka in the northwest of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia. It is one of the five special nature reserves in Serbia.

It represents a very important conservation area, which is on an area of ​​10,000 acres along the Danube since the year 1982. Is one of the last Ried forests with many waters, swamps and meadows parts, which is very rich in diverse animal and plant species in it. This reserve is bordered to the north by the National Park " Danube -Drava " in Hungary and to the west by the Kopački rit in Croatia.

Flora

Thrive here as the white willow, black poplar, the white poplar and the Euro-American poplar, but the most impressive are the forests with oaks, which leave their seats in time due to the artificial dams other plant species.

Fauna

Many mammals live in this reserve, various species of mice and even some wild species such as deer.

Within this natural birdlife is particularly pronounced. It is equipped with over 230 species also the most varied in Serbia because 70 percent of the Serbian species of birds are found here.

The most remarkable species in the reserve are:

• The cormorant is a rare bird species in Serbia, which was already considered there to be extinct. However, some cormorant colonization appeared again in the last fifteen years. When foraging, these birds are very often seen in the reserve.
• The black stork is very rare in Serbia. In the reserve live about 25 pairs of storks, which is a quarter of the Serbian Black Stork population.
• The heron is here also present with some permanent settlements, according to the Reserve statistics from the year 1999.
• The eagle is the largest bird of prey in Europe. 30 percent of the white-tailed eagle in Serbia and Montenegro incubate their eggs in this nature reserve.
• Both wild ducks and wild geese gather here in winter and the mating season. There, over the years more and more couples were found.

The reserve is also rich in fish species. The favorable conditions to enable fish to rapid multiplication. About 50 species of freshwater fish are found in the reserve. The most common species are carp, catfish, pike, pike-perch. Very strong efforts of the reserve go there to maintain the quantity of fish.