Protection of hydrological heritage sites of Serbia: Problems and perspectives

Abstract

Protection of hydrological heritage sites, water protection segment, is an integral part of nature con¬servation. Today it is the basic theme of the hydrological heritage, the new field of hydrology and geo¬heritage, which, by exploring and evaluating hydrological diversity of a particular area and identifying representative water phenomena, sets their preservation and protection as one of the utmost objec¬tives. Two main problems in the protection of water phenomena in Serbia are: inadequate attitude of the individual and society, as a result of poor knowledge of the characteristics and values of waters, and the ever–present need for men to use them (as resources). Lack of understanding, in the profession¬al sphere, the value and importance of water phenomena in the natural system – as a result of a firmly based biocentrism in nature conservation, lack of hydrologic group within the geoheritage and a small number of interested professionals are some of the associated problems that limit the activities in this field. Specific problems – from the lack of organized and synchronized scientific research to the lack of a database on the hydrological heritage sites, are somewhat common to other segments of the na¬ture conservation of Serbia. There are three possible directions of the future actions on the protection of hydrological heritage sites of Serbia: complete protection, protection with utilisation for the needs of tourism and protection with utilisation for the needs of water management. The most complex task of hydrological heritage will just be to combine the preservation and protection with tourism and wa¬ter management, because it is diverse and often conflicting industries about. A possible solution to this problem is illustrated through the idea of water reserves.