The chirping birds and dense trees of a small woodland in northeastern Serbia are now protected after a local bird-watching group said it used crowdfunding to buy the land and keep it from being cleared.
The group, the Bird Protection and Study Society, purchased a 5-acre (2-hectare) parcel known as the Nightingale’s Forest, describing it as a rare patch of thick greenery in a flat, farming region. Society representatives said the forest’s moist habitat supports a variety of bird and animal species that thrive there.
Uros Stojiljkovic, a representative of the Bird Protection and Study Society, said the woodland had been privately owned and became available for sale. He told The Associated Press that the trees probably would have been cut down if someone else had bought the land, adding that “The value of timber was higher than its (land) price,” and that the group “We protected it this way.”
The purchase, the society said, was completed after it launched a crowdfunding effort intended not only to preserve the immediate woodland but also to demonstrate a broader model for environmental protection in Serbia. The society cited growing interest in nature protection among people in Serbia as the country faces environmental problems ranging from air and river pollution to waste management and profit-driven construction that can threaten green areas, particularly in big cities.
Authorities have pledged to boost environmental care as part of Serbia’s European Union membership bid, but the society said protection groups have warned that little has been done in reality. In response, the Nightingale’s Forest plan focuses on maintaining the woodland as it is, while the society’s new owners said they plan to list the plants and animals found there.
Natasa Jancic, who was involved in the campaign, said the effort collected the purchase price of 8,000 euros ($9,500) in less than a month. She said hundreds of people continued to donate afterward, with the funds intended for field work or additional land purchases.
Jancic said the campaign reflected a wider shift in the society itself. She said the Bird Protection and Study Society, launched about 30 years ago as a small expert-only group, has grown into a community of nature lovers, adding that “Individually, we can’t do much, but as an active and stable community, we can achieve a lot.”
Stojiljkovic said the society sees the area’s size—just 5 acres under protection—as unlikely to transform conditions on a larger scale by itself. He said the Nightingale’s Forest is still a first step and argued that “Every village or town should have a Nightingale’s Forest of its own for a cumulative effect,” saying it is “important to start somewhere.”