Aleksej Janicijevic

Serbia:  Endangered Species

Balkan Goldenring

The Balkan goldenring is assessed as near threatened with warnings of a worsened situation judging at current population trends. The species is found from central to southeastern Europe, however there is limited knowledge regarding the distribution of the species in certain areas such as Romania for example. Although it is locally visible, the problem is that it has a very specific habitat (shaded brooks, streams and medium-sized rivers with gritty bottom), making habitat a huge issue and the primary reason for the species population decline – habitat lose and desiccation of rivers due to climate change. Due to the nature of the species habitat, deforestation is also a big factor, and has a huge impact on the population. It is very likely that the declining population will continue declining in the future.

Pieris balcana

            The pieris balcana is an endemic European species, it is scattered across of much of the Balkans, and is visible on elevations up to 1300m. Its furthest occurrence is up until central Greece. The habitat of the species is broad-leaved deciduous forests (66%), coniferous woodland (16%), mixed woodland (16%). The species isn’t believed to face extreme extinction threats, regardless of it being an endemic species. The reason for the rating Least Concern is that the species has not declined more than 25% in population in the last 10 years, so there is no prediction of complete extinction. The coverage of the species is larger than 20,000km² and its population size is probably larger than 10,000 adult individuals. The main reason for the decline in population is the destruction of habitat.