In Vojvodina, where agricultural areas dominate and where food production is one of the main activities, protected natural areas (SRP “Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski rit”) are important for the general preservation of biological diversity in contrast to monotonous fields. These areas represent oases of preserved nature, important for maintaining the general ecological balance in the region. The originality of natural processes makes them areas with the highest level of environmental quality, valuable for the preservation of basic life resources – water, air and soil. Also, preserved natural assets and spending time in nature represent an important aspect of the quality of life of the population.

The SRP “Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski rit” is characterized by natural marsh ecosystems that contain elements of preservation, originality, representativeness and autochthonity. Their value at the European level should be emphasized, especially from the aspect of the protection of priority habitat types and endangered wild species that inhabit them, as well as the establishment of the National Ecological Network and the NATURA 2000 network. The water regime, as well as the natural exchange of water through constant flooding, is the basic ecological factor for the survival of wildlife in the reserve. A large number of plant and animal species live in such conditions, and an entire mosaic of rare and fragile habitats has been preserved, characterized by functional instability and sensitivity to degradation, as well as weak and slow natural renewal. Despite legal protection at the national level, through the designation of an Internationally Important Bird Area (IBA), an Important Botanical Area (IPA) and the declaration of a Ramsar site, a whole range of problems that threaten aquatic, wetland, meadow and fen forest ecosystems is still present, which can negatively affect the survival of the protected area. The main ecological problems are related to siltation and eutrophication, as well as anthropogenic impact, which leads to disruption of the water regime.

The Special nature reserve “Koviljsko-Petrovaradinski rit” is designated as an protected area in order to preserve the complex of aquatic, wetland, meadow and forest floodplain habitats (39 priority habitat types have been identified for protection) with diverse orographic and hydrographic forms of the fens (ades, ravines, meanders, shallow and deeper depressions, coastal ridges) and associated animal communities (fen gallery forests of pedunculate oak, ash and beech, black and white poplar forests, white willow forests, wet meadows, swamps and ponds, open water areas), natural values and typical Pannonian elements of flora (443 taxa of higher plants, of which a large number are endemic and relict and 37 species protected at the national and international level) and fauna (42 species of insects, 26 species of fish, 11 species of amphibians, 7 species of reptiles, all of which are protected, 206 species of birds, and a large number of rare and endangered species of mammals.

The increase in land use negatively affected ecosystems, resulting in habitat degradation and fragmentation. Natural habitats were increasingly degraded over time, as was their stability. These anthropogenic impacts have disrupted the spatial distribution and percentage share of marsh, meadow and forest ecosystems. In the past ten years, emphasis has been placed on reducing these negative impacts and implementing management interventions to preserve meadow and marsh ecosystems, as the most sensitive, indigenous forest communities, as well as ensuring unhindered water circulation through the marsh.