The project team working on the preservation of Pančić’s spruce through the project “Support for the restoration and conservation of the oldest European tree species – Pančić’s spruce (Picea omorika)”, of which the Center for Environment is a part, visited ten sample plots that were initially set up in 2021.
Data is collected from these plots, habitat conditions are analysed, and spruce occurrence is monitored, and they are located in a total of five locations, three in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Tesla, Veliki Stolac and Gostilja (municipalities of Rogatica and Višegrad) and two in the Republic of Serbia in the National Park “Tara”: Trenice and Studenac.
This field trip, as well as the second year of the project, was concluded with the annual meeting of all project partners.
The meeting was held in the “Tara” National Park, and the organiser of the meeting was the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage with partners, among whom, in addition to the Center, are the Forestry Faculty of the University of Banja Luka, JPŠ “Forests of the Republika Srpska”, NP ” Tara”, NP “Drina”, UG “EKO centar”, UG “Arbor Magna” and PK “Tara”. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Institute for Nature Protection of Serbia, as well as the director of the Franklinia Foundation, Jean-Christophe Vié, who also participated in the field tour. This foundation financially supported the implementation of this three-year project.
Presentations were held on the data collected so far and the course of the project, and the following spoke about new knowledge: Jean-Christophe Vié, director of the Franklinia Foundation; Ana Ćurić, project coordinator in front of the project leader of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural, Historical and Natural Heritage, prof. Dr. Milan Mataruga, M.Sc. Đorđije Milanović, project experts from the Faculty of Forestry in Banja Luka. The moderator of the event was Aleksandra-Anja Dragomirović, vice president of the Center for Environment.
“Pančić spruce is one of the few globally endangered trees in Europe. Endangerment has been confirmed by the inclusion of Pančić’s spruce on the Red List of the Commission for the Conservation of Species of the IUCN and it survives only in a few populations on the steep northern slopes on the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Unfortunately, in 2021, some of the most important populations were lost in forest fires, which worsened its endangered status. Fortunately, scientists from a number of institutions are carefully monitoring different populations, trying to identify the environmental conditions that favour its natural regeneration,” said Jean-Christophe Vié, director of the Franklinia Foundation, and finally added:
“On the field, we also saw saplings, which gives a glimmer of hope for the future of spruce.” I was convinced that working on most of the sites where the test plots were set up was a big challenge for the project team considering the extremely steep rocky slopes on which it grows. Good luck to the project team in their future work!”
Aleksandra-Anja Dragomirović, vice president of the Center for Environment, noted that Pančić’s spruce was discovered late as a type of tree, and that it still leaves a lot of open questions for scientists and researchers, as well as the need for new knowledge about its life cycles and habitats so that we know which preservation and protection mechanisms are needed (or not) for its survival.
“We are happy that this project, supported by the “Franklinia” foundation, has enabled us to gain new insights and knowledge about this, according to many, the most beautiful coniferous tree species.”
