Red Mud Pool to Be Declared as the Protected Ornithological Area

The Croatian Ecological Society Buna Mostar published an interesting promotional brochure called Aquatic Habitat the Dobro Selo Pool, in which they invited the relevant state bodies on the declaration of this area as protected ornithological zone.

This valuable concept is particularly interesting for the entire Herzegovina region, and very welcoming in the time when a fire has engulfed the entire Hutovo Blato Nature Park and here is the beautifully illustrated text from the brochure which is also the confirmation of the Aluminij superior efforts in the field of preservation of the environment, which was awarded with a number of national and international recognitions as well as the title of the First International Eco-Company by the International League of Humanists.

The creators of the brochure, among other things, say:

The Dobro Selo Pool  is artificially constructed dump of the red mud from aluminum smelter, situated on the plateau of the Dobro Selo, south of Mostar. The aquatic habitat with muddy sandbanks and water areas was created as a result of many years of the red mud delaying into this asphalt pool. With discontinuation of this part of the aluminum production process, the Dobro Selo Pool was out of use. Over time it was inhabited by fish, amphibians and other small aquatic organisms but also numerous spices of birds that rest there during their migration. Such wetland does not exist anywhere else in the surrounding area. The muddy shallows are filled with aquatic larvae and worms, and this abundance of food also attract those kinds of birds that can rarely be seen elsewhere in the region.

With such a wealth of birds in this tiny area, the red mud pool in Dobro Selo represents a special ornithological and natural value. Given that this landfill does not have a function for which it was intended, the pool itself doesn`t need any special protection (other than the protection of birds from disturbance, especially during nesting and migration), and in recent times there is an obvious increase in wetland vegetation in the pool itself so it keeps attracting some new species as well. It would be helpful, by the local community and relevant institutions, to declare the Dobro Selo Pool as a protected ornithological zone and to be included in the future plans at the municipal and county level.