Banjica Forest
Encyclopedia
Banjička šuma or Banjica forest (Cyrillic
: Бањичка шума) is a forest
in Belgrade
, the capital of Serbia
. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac
.
, downtown Belgrade. It borders the neighborhoods of Diplomatska Kolonija
and Dedinje
on the west, Banjica
on the southwest and south, Trošarina
on the southeast and Voždovac on the east. The forest is some 2 kilometers long and up to 300 meters wide and covers an area of 0.40 square kilometres.
During the late 1980s, Timothy John Byford
campaigned for Banjica forest to have special protection because of the large number of nightingales and other species of birds that nest in it. The wood is now an officially protected natural habitat and has been dubbed by some (unofficially) as 'Byford's Forest'.
, red maple
, silver maple
and box elder
, but there are many others as well. There are numerous wildflowers on the forest floor, including wood avens
, violets
, strawberries, garlic mustard
, deadnettles etc.
species are very diverse so because of them, Banjica forest is now a Natural Monument
, protected by the state. 68 bird species live in the forest, 40 of which are resident birds, 16 are migratory birds and 12 are passing. The most common breeding birds are nightingale
, blackcap
, great tit
, European magpie
, hooded crow
, blackbird, woodpigeon, great spotted woodpecker
etc.
Mammals include Eastern European hedgehog
, moles
, several species of shrews, various bat
s, the local brown subspecies of the red squirrel
, wood mouse
, yellow-necked mouse
, least weasel
etc.
gas station and the Best Western
hotel (formerly Mladost). The south-western extension of the forest was turned into the large sports complex of Banjica decades ago.
On the occasion of the April 22, 2007, the Earth Day
, the city government announced its plans for the Banjica forest in 2007, which will include the construction of the trim trail, artificial bed for the forest's stream
and placing of bird houses through the forest.
As in the spring of 2011, the main forest path (going along the length of the forest) has a form of a functional trim trail, while the smaller paths are left in their natural state. Some old trees were cut and timber was cut in smaller pieces and left at the spot, attracting insects and insect-eating birds. Benches and wooden wastebaskets are placed periodically along the trim trail, while there are also several well-spaced spots with information tables and multiple benches under wooden roofs, intended for rest of several families. There are a wooden and a stone-based bridge over the widest parts of the stream, as well as several plank bridges over the narrowest parts. Bird houses are placed all over the forest.
Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script for the Serbian language, developed in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two standard modern alphabets used to write the Serbian language, the other being Latin...
: Бањичка шума) is a forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, the capital of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac
Voždovac
Voždovac is an urban neighborhood and one of 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia.- Location :...
.
Location
Banjica forest is a meridionally elongated wooded area along the Boulevard of the Liberation. It begins already less than 4 kilometers away from TerazijeTerazije
Terazije is the central square and an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad.- Location :...
, downtown Belgrade. It borders the neighborhoods of Diplomatska Kolonija
Diplomatska Kolonija
Diplomatska Kolonija is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac....
and Dedinje
Dedinje
Dedinje is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Savski Venac...
on the west, Banjica
Banjica
Banjica is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is divided between the Belgrade's municipalities of Savski Venac and Voždovac .- Location :...
on the southwest and south, Trošarina
Trošarina
Trošarina is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac....
on the southeast and Voždovac on the east. The forest is some 2 kilometers long and up to 300 meters wide and covers an area of 0.40 square kilometres.
During the late 1980s, Timothy John Byford
Timothy John Byford
Timothy John Byford is an author, actor, TV film-director, translator, and educator in Serbia....
campaigned for Banjica forest to have special protection because of the large number of nightingales and other species of birds that nest in it. The wood is now an officially protected natural habitat and has been dubbed by some (unofficially) as 'Byford's Forest'.
Plant life
Most common tree species are pedunculate oakPedunculate Oak
Quercus robur is commonly known as the Pedunculate Oak or English oak. It is native to most of Europe, and to Anatolia to the Caucasus, and also to parts of North Africa.-Taxonomy:Q...
, red maple
Red Maple
Acer rubrum , is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern North America. It ranges from the Lake of the Woods on the border between Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to near Miami, Florida, and southwest to east Texas...
, silver maple
Silver Maple
The silver maple —also called creek maple, river maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, water maple, or white maple—is a species of maple native to eastern North America in the eastern United States and Canada...
and box elder
Box Elder
Box Elder may refer to:*The Box elder, Acer negundo, a species of maple*The Box elder bug, an insect which feeds on maple trees*Box Elders, a punk band from Omaha, Nebraska*Places named "Box Elder" include:*Box Elder, Montana, United States of America...
, but there are many others as well. There are numerous wildflowers on the forest floor, including wood avens
Wood Avens
Geum urbanum, also known as wood avens, herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict's herb , is a perennial plant in the rose family , which grows in shady places in Europe and the Middle East.Usually reaching a height between 20 and 60 cm, wood avens blooms between May and August,...
, violets
Violet (plant)
Viola is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with around 400–500 species distributed around the world. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere; however, viola species are also found in widely divergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes in...
, strawberries, garlic mustard
Garlic Mustard
Garlic mustard is a biennial flowering plant in the Mustard family, Brassicaceae. It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, and northwestern Africa, from Morocco, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern Scandinavia, and east to northern India and western China...
, deadnettles etc.
Animal life
BirdBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
species are very diverse so because of them, Banjica forest is now a Natural Monument
Natural Monument
A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance....
, protected by the state. 68 bird species live in the forest, 40 of which are resident birds, 16 are migratory birds and 12 are passing. The most common breeding birds are nightingale
Nightingale
The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...
, blackcap
Blackcap
The Blackcap is a common and widespread sylviid warbler which breeds throughout temperate Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and winters from northwestern Europe south to tropical Africa...
, great tit
Great Tit
The Great Tit is a passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common species throughout Europe, the Middle East, Central and Northern Asia, and parts of North Africa in any sort of woodland. It is generally resident, and most Great Tits do not migrate except in extremely...
, European magpie
European Magpie
The European Magpie, Eurasian Magpie, or Common Magpie, , is a resident breeding bird throughout Europe, much of Asia and northwest Africa. It is one of several birds in the crow family named as magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies...
, hooded crow
Hooded Crow
The Hooded Crow is a Eurasian bird species in the crow genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, and Corbie or Grey Crow in Ireland, which is what its Welsh name, Brân Lwyd, translates as...
, blackbird, woodpigeon, great spotted woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The Great Spotted Woodpecker , Dendrocopos major, is a bird species of the woodpecker family . It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia, and usually resident year-round except in the colder parts of its range...
etc.
Mammals include Eastern European hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
, moles
Mole (animal)
Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
, several species of shrews, various bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, the local brown subspecies of the red squirrel
Red Squirrel
The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia...
, wood mouse
Wood mouse
The wood mouse is a common murid rodent from Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the neck, has slightly smaller ears, and is usually slightly smaller overall: around 90 mm in length...
, yellow-necked mouse
Yellow-necked mouse
The Yellow-necked Mouse Apodemus flavicollis is closely related to the wood mouse, with which it was long confused, only being recognised as a separate species in 1894. It differs in its band of yellow fur around the neck and in having slightly larger ears and usually being slightly larger overall....
, least weasel
Least Weasel
The least weasel is the smallest member of the Mustelidae , native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, though it has been introduced elsewhere. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large population...
etc.
Facilities and future
The man-made facilities in the forest include the LukoilLUKoil
Lukoil/LUKoil ; ) is Russia's second largest oil company and its second largest producer of oil. In 2009, the company produced 97.615 million tons of oil; ....
gas station and the Best Western
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. is the third largest hotel chain, with over 4,195 hotels in nearly 80 countries. The chain, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, operates more than 2,000 hotels in North America alone. Best Western has a marketing program involving placement of free...
hotel (formerly Mladost). The south-western extension of the forest was turned into the large sports complex of Banjica decades ago.
On the occasion of the April 22, 2007, the Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
, the city government announced its plans for the Banjica forest in 2007, which will include the construction of the trim trail, artificial bed for the forest's stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
and placing of bird houses through the forest.
As in the spring of 2011, the main forest path (going along the length of the forest) has a form of a functional trim trail, while the smaller paths are left in their natural state. Some old trees were cut and timber was cut in smaller pieces and left at the spot, attracting insects and insect-eating birds. Benches and wooden wastebaskets are placed periodically along the trim trail, while there are also several well-spaced spots with information tables and multiple benches under wooden roofs, intended for rest of several families. There are a wooden and a stone-based bridge over the widest parts of the stream, as well as several plank bridges over the narrowest parts. Bird houses are placed all over the forest.