Banjica Forest

Banjička šuma or Banjica forest (Serbian Cyrillic: Бањичка шума) is a forest in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Voždovac.

Location

Banjica forest is a meridionally elongated wooded area along the Boulevard of the Liberation. It begins already less than 4 kilometers away from Terazije, downtown Belgrade. It borders the neighborhoods of Diplomatska Kolonija and Dedinje on the west, Banjica on the southwest and south, Trošarina on the southwast 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.

Plant life

Most common tree species are pedunculate oak, 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.

Animal life

Bird 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. [Plate at forest's entrances] 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 bats, the local brown subspecies of the red squirrel, wood mouse, yellow-necked mouse, least weasel etc.

Facilities and future

The man-made facilities in the forest include the Lukoil 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 brooklet and placing of bird houses through the forest. [Politika daily, April 21, 2007]

References