A massive wildfire that broke out in July and raged for several weeks in the Deliblato Sands nature reserve destroyed more than 12,000 hectares, local news outlet 021.rs reported.
According to the public forestry enterprise Vojvodinasume, the final numbers were established using data from satellite imagery to analyze the total damage within the special nature reserve.
Vojvodinasume noted that 11,394 hectares of the scorched land falls directly under its management, while another 860 hectares outside the reserve’s official boundaries were also impacted by the blaze, 021.rs reported.
Known as “the European Sahara,” the Deliblato Sands (Deliblatska pescara) is one of the continent’s last remaining deserts. It is located in the southeastern part of Serbia’s northern province of Vojvodina, nestled between the Danube and the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains, just 80 kilometers from Belgrade.