Protection of hydrological heritage sites of Serbia: Problems and perspectives

Protection of hydrological heritage sites, water protection segment, is an integral part of nature conservation. 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 objectives. 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 professional 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 geo-heritage 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 nature 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 utilization for the needs of tourism and protection with utilization 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 water management, because it is diverse and often conflicting industries about. A possible solution to this problem is illustrated through the idea of water reserves.