How the beautiful bird from the coat of arms of Serbia has been preserved

June 1, 2022

The Eastern Imperial Eagle can be found on the coat of arms of the Republic of Serbia and many people consider it a national bird - we even call our sports national teams "eagles"! – however, its destiny in our country has become uncertain in recent decades, to put it mildly.

This is not just a problem of Serbia: this protected species is endangered in other European countries as well. However, many countries have succeeded in their decades-long efforts to preserve and reproduce the Eastern Imperial Eagle. Our northern neighbour, Hungary, sets a good example, which, with about ten pairs, managed to raise the population of the Eastern Imperial Eagle to over 250. However, the Eastern Imperial Eagle in Serbia is not facing a bright future, warns Milan Ružić, Executive Director of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia. "The main problem with the protection of Eastern Imperial Eagle on the territory of Serbia is that birds, above all, do not have adequate nesting places. Huge old trees that used to be in the lowlands, near places where there are rich food sources, have disappeared for various reasons, and above all because of the deforestation.” In addition, the Eastern Imperial Eagles disappear for illegal killing and poisoning. Their population in our country was left with only one nesting pair. They were threatened with extinction", explains Ružić. In order to preserve this rare species, the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia together with the Provincial Institute for Nature Protection from Novi Sad participated in the project "PannonEagle Life - Conservation of the Easter Imperial Eagle in the Pannonian Region". The project was financed by LIFE programme of the European Union and co-financed by the Ministries of Agriculture of Austria and Hungary. The project started in October 2016 and lasted until April 2020. Its goal was not only to preserve, but also to increase the population of Imperial Eagles, primarily by reducing mortality caused by humans. When the project started, we had only one known nesting pair. The project enabled us to preserve the nest in the north of Banat in the first year and to contribute to the hatching of two eaglets. The following year, one eaglet 'flew out', and then two more eaglets, so that in 2020, during the work on this project, we had three nesting pairs and each of them was successful", says Ružić. As nature knows no borders, several Pannonian Region countries participating in the project have the same goal - Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Austria. The PannonEagle LIFE project is an example of good practice in which knowledge and experience from individual countries can be gathered, supported by the European Union and resulting in success. "The European Union funded the project coordinator in the Society and enabled us to keep the nest, which was the most important thing in the field. Through some other activities we managed to contribute to reducing the illegal sale and use of the poisonous pesticide Furadan to a minimum, or almost completely", adds Ružić. The Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia, of course, did not stop at this project. A few years ago, they started researching how many birds die on power lines. Last year alone, 82 cases of collision were recorded, mostly in the vicinity of Kovilje marshes. As they say, birds often lose their lives during night migration, when the wires of the transmission line are almost invisible. Among them are some very rare and endangered species, such as the barn rooster, the small king snipe, the forest snipe and the spoonbill. The Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia and the Electric Power Distribution Serbia (EDS) monitor bird electrocution in order to improve conditions for nesting and feeding of certain species in nine areas along the Danube river. This is done through the international project for the prevention of bird electrocution on the power lines "Life Danube Free Sky", with the participation of 15 partners from seven countries. "In both projects, we have shown that citizens have a big role to play in nature conservation by being able to engage, unite and help survival of endangered species. We need people to know that there is a problem, to recognise it so that we can solve it together," says Ružić. The EU provides financial assistance to Serbia for the preservation of many plant and animal species, as well as untouched natural beauties. Through cross-border and transnational cooperation programmes, the EU has supported over 1,000 projects from Serbia with over 700 million euros.