Accreditation as a City of Wetland
At the 64th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention, held in January 2025, Novi Sad was awarded the “Ramsar Wetland City” accreditation, becoming the first city in the Balkans to receive this prestigious title.
With this accreditation, Novi Sad has gained global recognition as an outstanding example of balanced urban development that acknowledges the importance of wetlands for nature conservation, climate change adaptation, and improved quality of life. By protecting these areas, the city sets an example of sustainable urban development.
Moreover, the accreditation as a Wetland City enables Novi Sad to highlight and strengthen its positive relationship with the valuable ecosystems within its territory, including through increased public awareness of these habitats and their inclusion in local planning and decision-making processes.
In a landscape dominated by agricultural areas, wetlands play a crucial role in preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecological balance. They are oases of untouched nature, and the originality of natural processes makes them areas with the highest level of environmental quality.
For this reason, the city of Novi Sad has devoted special attention to the preservation of its valuable aquatic ecosystems through spatial planning, legal protection, restoration projects, and sustainable development policies. In this way, Novi Sad demonstrates how urban development and nature conservation can coexist harmoniously.
Begečka Jama Nature Park
One of the most significant wetlands in the vicinity of the city is Begečka Jama Nature Park, dominated by a fluvial lake connected to the Danube River via the Begej Kanal.
In addition to the lake, the protected area includes fragments of lowland forests of native willows and poplars, oxbow lakes, wetland complexes overgrown with reeds and tall sedges, and open water surfaces of both permanent and temporary ponds.
The park area serves as a natural breeding ground and a habitat for fish from this part of the Danube, a reproductive center for amphibians and reptiles, as well as a feeding and gathering site for birds during migration.
Special Nature Reserve Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski Rit
Located in the immediate vicinity of the city, the Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski Rit is an extremely important wetland under national and international protection. It is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA), a Important Plant Area (IPA), a Ramsar site, and a Special Nature Reserve.
The reserve represents the largest preserved marsh complex in the region, entirely situated within the floodplain of the Danube River along its middle course through Serbia. It was designated as a protected area to preserve a complex of aquatic, marsh, meadow, and forest habitats in the floodplains (39 priority habitat types have been identified for protection), with diverse orographic and hydrographic forms of wetlands (oxbow lakes, channels, meanders, shallow and deep depressions, riparian ridges) and associated animal communities (floodplain gallery forests of pedunculate oak, ash, and beech; black and white poplar forests; white willow forests; wet meadows; marshes and ponds; open water surfaces).
This area is exceptionally rich in flora and fauna. The flora includes 443 higher plant taxa, many of which are endemic or relict species, with 37 species protected internationally. The fauna comprises 42 insect species, 26 fish species, 11 amphibian species, 7 reptile species (all protected), 206 bird species, and a large number of rare and endangered mammals.
Despite legal protection, the Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski Rit faces numerous challenges that threaten its aquatic, marsh, meadow, and wetland forest ecosystems, potentially jeopardizing the survival of this protected area. The main ecological issues are siltation and eutrophication, as well as human-induced impacts, which lead to disturbances in the natural water regime.
The Ramsar Convention accreditation provides Novi Sad with a new, powerful tool to address these challenges. The city now has the opportunity to significantly enhance the protection of all its wetlands through concrete actions. In this way, Novi Sad can overcome existing problems and demonstrate that the title “Ramsar Wetland City” is a well-deserved recognition of its ongoing commitment to nature conservation.