Serbian foresters map long-term recovery for fire-scarred dunes
A year after wildfires ravaged the Deliblatska Pescara reserve, Serbian foresters are weighing which trees to keep or replace as they plan a slow-moving restoration.
More than a month after the Deliblatska Pescara reserve was engulfed by fire, foresters are confronting tough decisions about its future landscape. Jovana Devetakovic notes that the area will likely look like low shrubland for the next 15 to 25 years before a forest can re-establish. The cleanup will require a gradual removal of half-burned trees to avoid fueling new fires or creating habitats for bark beetles.
Debate centers on whether to retain historic black pine and black locust or replace them with birch, poplar, ash and oak, which burn less readily. Alexander Held advises a three-to-five-year monitoring phase in zones not threatened by erosion before committing to large-scale replanting. Data show that 2023-2025 marked Serbia’s worst three-year fire period this century, prompting specialists to look to Greece’s post-2007 reforestation methods that use organic soil amendments to retain moisture.
Why it matters
The plan will shape how Serbia protects a unique ecosystem from increasingly frequent wildfires.
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