Fruška Gora National Park

About

In Serbian, it is known as Fruška gora ( pronounced [frûʃkaː ɡǒra], Фрушка гора), in Hungarian as Tarcal (also Almus-hegy or Árpatarló ), in German as Frankenwald, and in Latin as Alma Mons. In Medieval Greek, it was known as Frangochoria.

The mountain's name originates in the old Serbian word "Fruzi" derived from the singular form "Frug" ; and its adjective is Fruški, used for naming the Frankish people. The name of "Fruška Gora" is "Frankish mountain" in English whose meaning is based on describing a historical event. The mountain served as a natural border when Frankish campaigns were set up in the area. In the time of the Roman Empire, its name was Alma Mons, meaning the "fertile mount". It is recorded that during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius Probus, 276–282, who was born in the nearby Sirmium, the first grapevines on the mountain were planted.

The mountain is a natural geological phenomenon as it is built from rocks from almost all geological periods. It used to be an island during the existence of the Pannonian Sea. To the north, the mountain is bordered by the Danube river, while to the south it descends into the Syrmian lowlands. It is stretching approximately 80 km (50 mi) from east to west and 15 km (9.3 mi) from north to south. Its highest peak is Crveni Čot at 539 m (1,768 ft).

Fruška Gora also divides Syrmia in two geographically distinct parts: Wine Syrmia (upper or mountainous) and Swine Syrmia (lower or lowland). Slopes of the mountain were established as one of the most prestigious vineyards in Hungary, ever since the 15th century. Golden age of the Fruška Gora's viticulture began after 1699 and the Treaty of Karlowitz, when Ottomans were expelled from the area, until the late 19th century.

In Sremski Karlovci, a famous dessert wine called bermet is produced, with protected geographical indication. It is recorded that the crates of bermet were used as a bribe by the Serbs to obtain certain privileges from the Austrian empress Maria Theresa. The wine was served at the Russian and British courts, and was on the wine list of Titanic.

The slopes of Fruška Gora are perfectly suited for grape arbors, and wine -makers producing Traminer, Riesling and other wines in the region. After the fall of communism, the Serbian Orthodox Church got 10,000 hectares restitution in the area of their nationalized properties.

Map The national park of Fruška Gora was declared in 1960 and covers an area of 266.72 km 2 (102.98 sq mi). It is the oldest modern national park in Serbia.

Rich fossil fauna is preserved and almost 90% of the park area is forested. The predominant tree species include linden, oak and beech. The concentration of linden forests is highest in Europe. In time, linden became the dominant tree species, replacing formerly much larger and dominant oak forests, which are considered to be the autochthonous vegetation on Fruška Gora. Altogether, 1,500 plant species inhabits the park, of which 200 are protected. There are also 400 species of fungi. Pannonian plant endemites include Tatar dock ( Crambe tataria ), broadleaf wild leek and Hungarian leopard's-bane. There are some 30 species of orchids in the park.

In 2016, massive cutting of trees in the park occurred, one of the largest in the mountain's recorded history. Over 10 ha (25 acres) of forest have been cut. Park administration then stated that an autochthonous species of oak will be planted instead. However, they never planted anything and in the future years a thicket of the remaining black locust high shrubs grew instead. The administration, nevertheless, claims that the oaks have been planted. In the spring of 2019, aggressive cutting continued. Apparently indiscriminate cutting, without proper notifications what is being cut and by whom, destroyed hiking paths and orienteering marks. Also, the cutting sections of the forest weren't properly secured and some were completely wrong: beech trees have been cut even though the table stated that oak trees are being cut. According to the environmentalists, regular visitors and recreational athletes, the cutting was never so massive.

Timber was transported outside of the park and was sold by the park administration. They responded that everything is being part of the planned action, that park has to think about the "economic part" of its existence (as the government is allocating small amounts of money to the park) and that trees will be "replenished later" because the cut ones were old. Members of the commission which participated in the planning said that even more trees should have been cut as 80% of the forest is over 80 years old. Only 3% of park's territory is under the strict protection (some 800 ha (2,000 acres) of forest at Papratski Dol locality). The trees have been cut right along the border of this area, clearing the land which surrounds it. Citizens responded that national park is not a tree farm where the trees should be "replaced" and that protected forests can't be perceived as a feedstock. Director of the park said that he doesn't know how much trees they cut and planted, but numbers officially published by the park in 2018 show that in an undefined period they planted 50,000 seedlings, but 100,000 trees have been cut. Also, the park's plan for 2019 envisioned almost 100 time more money for cutting the trees than for the planting of the new ones. In 2020, 60,000 new trees were planned to be planted in the park, to commemorate 60th anniversary of the national park establishment.

By the 2010s, the predominant cultivated plant on the foothills of the mountain and the surrounding vast fields, became the rapeseed. In March 2020 it was announced that saffron was discovered on the mountain. There are some 20 species of saffron living in Serbia, but they never populated Fruška Gora. The discovered species is woodland crocus, it was found on only one location, but already spread to several thousand individual plants.

With several other beech localities in the national parks of Tara and Kopaonik, beech forests Papratski Do and Ravne on Fruška Gora have been submitted for the inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe in May 2020. The nomination was rejected due to the Serbian laws allowing shelterwood cutting on the area of 5 hectares (12 acres), while UNESCO accepts cut areas no larger than 1 hectare (2.5 acres), and even that is not only in the areas of the highest level of protection, but also in the surrounding zones. It was announced that the rules will be changed, so that parts of Fruška Gora might be included in 2023.

Protected insect species include Balkan goldenring, certain species of dragonflies and hoverflies, and Hungarian ground beetle, which already went extinct in some other European countries. Park is also the habitat of 13 amphibian species and 11 reptilians, of which 14 are protected, among them fire salamander and European adder.

Park is home to 211 bird species. Symbol of Fruška Gora is eastern imperial eagle, today with only 2 or 3 remaining breeding couples. There are 60 mammalian species, of which 17 are protected, including edible dormouse, European pine marten, European polecat and Mediterranean water shrew. Out of 30 species of bats which live in Serbia, 15 inhabits the mountain and all are under strict protection.

In January 2018, for the first time after the 1960s, additional mouflons were introduced in the park. 30 animals were relocated from Slovakia, which raised the number of mouflons in the park to 70. European fallow deer was also reintroduced. On 29 March 2022, five European bisons were reintroduced in the previously prepared habitat on the mountain. One bull and four cows were transported from the zoo in the Czech Republic and Poland 's Białowieża Forest reserve, respectively. It is estimated that the last bison on Serbian territory was hunted in c.1800. The male, who was named Đuka by popular vote, got ill but the therapy didn't help, and he died on 12 October 2023. The post-mortem showed several inflammatory diseases and a major trauma on Djuka's rib cage. Foul play was excluded, and it was suggested the trauma was caused by another animal or by the fall of the tree during the severe storm in July.

Rich fossil fauna is preserved and almost 90% of the park area is forested. The predominant tree species include linden, oak and beech. The concentration of linden forests is highest in Europe. In time, linden became the dominant tree species, replacing formerly much larger and dominant oak forests, which are considered to be the autochthonous vegetation on Fruška Gora. Altogether, 1,500 plant species inhabits the park, of which 200 are protected. There are also 400 species of fungi. Pannonian plant endemites include Tatar dock ( Crambe tataria ), broadleaf wild leek and Hungarian leopard's-bane. There are some 30 species of orchids in the park.

In 2016, massive cutting of trees in the park occurred, one of the largest in the mountain's recorded history. Over 10 ha (25 acres) of forest have been cut. Park administration then stated that an autochthonous species of oak will be planted instead. However, they never planted anything and in the future years a thicket of the remaining black locust high shrubs grew instead. The administration, nevertheless, claims that the oaks have been planted. In the spring of 2019, aggressive cutting continued. Apparently indiscriminate cutting, without proper notifications what is being cut and by whom, destroyed hiking paths and orienteering marks. Also, the cutting sections of the forest weren't properly secured and some were completely wrong: beech trees have been cut even though the table stated that oak trees are being cut. According to the environmentalists, regular visitors and recreational athletes, the cutting was never so massive.

Timber was transported outside of the park and was sold by the park administration. They responded that everything is being part of the planned action, that park has to think about the "economic part" of its existence (as the government is allocating small amounts of money to the park) and that trees will be "replenished later" because the cut ones were old. Members of the commission which participated in the planning said that even more trees should have been cut as 80% of the forest is over 80 years old. Only 3% of park's territory is under the strict protection (some 800 ha (2,000 acres) of forest at Papratski Dol locality). The trees have been cut right along the border of this area, clearing the land which surrounds it. Citizens responded that national park is not a tree farm where the trees should be "replaced" and that protected forests can't be perceived as a feedstock. Director of the park said that he doesn't know how much trees they cut and planted, but numbers officially published by the park in 2018 show that in an undefined period they planted 50,000 seedlings, but 100,000 trees have been cut. Also, the park's plan for 2019 envisioned almost 100 time more money for cutting the trees than for the planting of the new ones. In 2020, 60,000 new trees were planned to be planted in the park, to commemorate 60th anniversary of the national park establishment.

By the 2010s, the predominant cultivated plant on the foothills of the mountain and the surrounding vast fields, became the rapeseed. In March 2020 it was announced that saffron was discovered on the mountain. There are some 20 species of saffron living in Serbia, but they never populated Fruška Gora. The discovered species is woodland crocus, it was found on only one location, but already spread to several thousand individual plants.

With several other beech localities in the national parks of Tara and Kopaonik, beech forests Papratski Do and Ravne on Fruška Gora have been submitted for the inclusion into the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe in May 2020. The nomination was rejected due to the Serbian laws allowing shelterwood cutting on the area of 5 hectares (12 acres), while UNESCO accepts cut areas no larger than 1 hectare (2.5 acres), and even that is not only in the areas of the highest level of protection, but also in the surrounding zones. It was announced that the rules will be changed, so that parts of Fruška Gora might be included in 2023.