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Črna gora – referenčna vrednost za naravo
Montenegro – a reference value for nature
Od skrajnega jugozahodnega roba Skadarskega jezera vodi kozja steza proti 
Poseljanom in naprej na Vir. Kmalu nad živahnim ribiškim trgom, Rijeko 
Crnojevića, se steza serpentinasto vzpne in pogled iz trnastega dračja na robu 
vse bolj strme poti hitro obvisi na ogromni previsni steni, imenovani Obodska 
greda. Vodnik male karavane se ob pogledu na veličastno skalnato gmoto 
spomni na dva nagačena orliča planinskega orla Aquila chrysaëtus-fulva, ki 
ju je prejšnje leto v Zagrebški muzej prinesel neki zbiralec, in ob paru velikih 
ujed, ki krožita za pol „puškometa” predaleč, da bi se izplačalo nameriti 
karabinko vanju, pri sebi nekoliko presenečeno pomisli: „Še sta tu …” Piše se 
leto 1895, 21. junij je in na ta peklensko vroči dan se je Ludwig von Führer, 
mladi avanturist iz prestolnice avstroogrske monarhije, ki je študij veterine 
leto prej obesil na klin in se raje odpravil vznemirljivemu življenju zbiratelja 
ptic za potrebe cesarske zbirke Prirodoslovnega muzeja v Sarajevu naproti, 
napotil od Rijeke do Vira. 123 let kasneje, 28. 5. 2018, iz gnezda v Obodski 
steni zleti velika samica planinskega orla in v istem trenutku vsaj tri glave 
hkrati pomislimo: „Še je tu!”. Po več kot stoletju, potem ko je z njegovega 
latinskega imena odpadla vsa dodatna šara in je le še Aquila chrysaetos, 
potem ko se je svet tako korenito spremenil vsepovsod naokoli, je Rijeka 
Crnojevića še vedno mali trg in prav mogoče je, da šteje še manj ljudskih 
duš kot v času, ko se je tod potikal nabriti Avstrijec. A v prav isti steni, kjer 
sta prapradedek in praprababica orlice, ki je ravnokar zaokrožila nad nami, 
neprostovoljno žrtvovala svoj zarod za potrebe znanosti neke druge vzvišene 
vrste v nekem drugem času, je še dandanašnji domovanje ene izmed na-
jveličastnejših ptic naših krajev. Prav nič čudno ni, da se Črnogorci, kot tudi 
mnogi drugi narodi starega kontinenta, identificirajo s to mogočno ujedo. 
Ne le da je upodobljena na njihovi zastavi, prav istega orla upodablja tudi 
najbolj znani črnogorski ples, imenovan oro, torej orel. In nikakršna redkost 
ni še dandanes, da te prijatelj ali znanec naslovi z „Đe si orle?!*”. Še pogosteje 
se po drugi strani zgodi, da te naslovi z „Đe si sokole*?!”. 
A prav tu se zgodba zaplete!
Konec leta 2016 se je začel eden najbolj vznemirljivih procesov sodobne 
črnogorske ornitologije. Z  denarjem evropskih davkoplačevalcev se je 
ekipa mednarodnih in domačih strokovnjakov za ptice namenila narediti 
prvi korak na poti k opredelitvi omrežja Natura 2000 v Črni gori. Kakšna 
poslastica! Mala država podobno kot Slovenija leži na prepihu dveh 
biogeografskih regij, na majceni površini za pozornost kar tekmujejo visoke 
gore, strmi, marsikje še z obsežnimi pragozdnimi ostanki poraščeni bregovi, 
globoko vsekane soteske z bistrimi divjimi in popolnoma neukročenimi 
rekami, prvinsko Skadarsko jezero, največje na Balkanu, delta reke Bojane, 
Ulcinjske soline, raj za ptice selivke na jadranski selitveni poti, ostanki step 
ob glavnem mestu Podgorici in skoraj taka mozaična kulturna krajina, kot 
* Kje si orel, sokol, golob!?… 
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Uvodnik / Editorial
je je bil iz svojega doma na spodnjem Štajerskem pred več kot stoletjem vajen 
mentor mladega Führerja, kustos deželnega muzeja Bosne in Hercegovine v 
Sarajevu, Othmar Reiser. In pa zavest, da sta bila dva junaka tistega časa, ki 
v modernem ornitologu nehote budita nasprotujoča si čustva, na premnogih 
krajih v Črni gori ne le prva, temveč pred nami tudi zadnja raziskovalca ptic!
Brez lažne skromnosti lahko rečem, da sta naslednji dve leti minili 
v pravem viharju novih odkritij  – odstirale se niso le majhne lokalne 
skrivnosti ptičjega sveta, vsi, ki smo imeli to izjemno srečo, da smo se 
znašli na straneh še nenapisane knjige črnogorskega ptičjega bogastva, 
smo se skoraj po vsakem terenskem dnevu počutili kot Alica v Čudežni 
deželi. Le kako naj ornitologu ne zastane dih, ko se v prelestnem jutru 
znajde sredi rastišča divjih petelinov, na katerem poje 14, pa nato drugega 
dne na drugem rastišču našteje 18, na tretjem 23 in na koncu 30 ali celo 
več petelinov?! Povprečno rastišče, ki smo ga obiskali v Črni gori, je imelo 
med 5 in 10 pojočih petelinov, toliko jih je v Sloveniji le na nekaj izbranih 
največjih rastiščih, največ 11. Rastišč s prek 20 petelini v Evropi zunaj 
Rusije skoraj ni, tisto s 30 pa je morda največje na tem delu celine. 
Gozdovi Črne gore so marsikje ohranili ogromno elementov pragozda 
ali starodobnega gozda. Pogosto, predvsem na severu dežele, naletimo 
na obsežne sestoje starodavnih gozdov, zelo raznolikih po sestavi dreves: 
bukove, jelove, smrekove, črnega in rdečega bora, molike Pinus peuce in 
munike P. heldreichii. Suha stoječa debla in veje ter ogromno odpadle lesne 
mase, ki je ne vlačijo manično iz gozda, omogočajo obstoj popolne piramide 
organizmov in prav na vrhu slednje so detli in žolne. Ko smo v Sloveniji 
pred 15 leti resno razpravljali o referenčnih vrednostih populacij ključnih 
vrst ptic ter ugodnem ohranitvenem stanju habitatov, h kakršnemu naj 
bi težili v naši deželi, nismo poznali Črne gore. Če bi jo, bi si premnoge 
tamkajšnje gozdove brez dvoma vzeli za standard, za referenčno vrednost 
gozda z vrednostjo 1, 100 %! Gostote triprstih, belohrbtih in srednjih 
detlov so 5-, 10-, 15-krat večje kot v Sloveniji! Pardon, Slovenija dosega 0,1 
narave! Črna gora 1!
A gozdovi niso edini habitatni tip, po katerem bi v Črni gori Evropa 
morala iskati navdih in k čemur bi morala težiti. Na vseh črnogorskih rekah 
je le ena večja hidroelektrarna! Preostanek je skoraj poponoma divji, deviški. 
Smučišči sta na gorskih pašnikih le dve, kotorn je po drugi strani 3500 do 
4000 parov, 10-krat toliko kot v primerljivi Sloveniji! Industrije skoraj ni, 
intenzivnega kmetijstva pa ta dežela z izjemo plantaž vinske trte v okolici 
prestolnice prav tako skoraj ne pozna. Poleg gozdov in mokrišč je morda 
prav kulturna krajina tisto najbolj izjemno, kar se je v Črni gori ohranilo 
skoraj nespremenjeno v primerjavi s prejšnjimi časi. Naturo 2000 bi tu lahko 
imenovali Natura 1900! In to z vsem vzvišenim in upravičenim ponosom 
do dejstva, da je narodu uspelo ohraniti nekaj v Evropi najredkejšega  – 
tradicionalno poljedelstvo! V vsej deželi na vasi skoraj ne vidiš traktorja, 
namesto ostudnih plastičnih bal pa se na vsakem koraku bohotijo seneni 
stogi. In verjemite, niso jih naredili v čast obujanju starodavnih kmečkih 
opravil, kot to spodbujajo lokalna društva za ohranjanje podeželja v deželi 
na sončni strani Alp! Kljub geo-morfološki podobnosti in skupni nedavni 
zgodovini si Slovenija in Črna gora skoraj ne bi mogli biti manj podobni. 
Državljani dežele s titulo svetovnih zmagovalcev po številu traktorjev per 
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capita si namreč težko predstavljamo, da je senena kopica sploh še nekaj 
funkcionalnega in da obstajajo kraji, kjer še vedno ogromen delež, tudi 
urbane, mladine znaten del poletja preživi ob „plastenju”, ročnem grabljenju 
in obračanju sena in izdelavi senenih stogov. 
Tako ne preseneča, da je tudi populacija pisanih penic, črnočelih 
srakoperjev, vrtnih strnadov in smrdokaver nekajkrat do nekaj desetkrat večja 
kot v Sloveniji. Da, Črnogorci se imajo za ohranjeno kulturno krajino zahvaliti 
predvsem pomanjkanju in gospodarski nerazvitosti. A kaj bi sam – Ljubljančan 
in Barjanec – dal za malo manj „razvitosti“ po zahodno-evropsko! Za dan brez 
traktorja, gnojnice, umetnih gnojil, monsantove koruzne grdobije in koktejla 
pesticidov, balirane silaže ter „razvitih“ komasacij namesto mozaične kulturne 
krajine v srcu krajinskega parka (!) bi z veseljem odštel manjše bogastvo. Ali pa 
naredil to, kar pogosto naredim – stopil v najbolj povprečno črnogorsko vas 
sredi najbolj nezaščitenega dela države ter s polnimi pljuči in dušo vpijal nekaj, 
kar se pri nas zdi tako daljna preteklost.
Seveda Črna gora ni Indija Koromandija! Kljub temu, da bomo za ptice 
na popolnoma neodvisnih znanstvenih osnovah opredelili 33 območij, ki naj 
bi pokrivala več kot 50 % ozemlja, ji grozi prav vse, kar temu svetu grozi v teh 
ponorelih časih – neštete hidroelektrarne, najbolj prvinski gozdovi predelani 
v pelete, ki jih kupujemo na naših bencinskih črpalkah, do konca pozidana 
obala, luksuzna letovišča na Skadarskem jezeru in Ulcinjskih solinah, 
nesmiselne prometnice in „razvoj” podeželja, kot obljuba zahodne blaginje. 
A ta dežela je še vedno merska enota za naravo! Ornis balcanica – ornitološka 
biblija o raziskavah Reiserja in Führerja izpred več kot stoletja je še vedno skoraj 
moderni pregled, večina vsega omenjenega je še na svojem mestu, ne le orli, 
pač pa tudi prlivke, komatne tekice, vrtni strnadi, kotorne, kratkoprsti in laški 
škrjanci, kratkoprsti skobci, kodrasti pelikani, vse evropske čaplje in mnogo 
drugega. Praktično vse razen jastrebov in sokolov. Jastrebe  – vse evropske 
vrste – so uničili pastirji, saj so se iznenada ustrašili, da jim bodo te velike ptice 
pojedle živino, sokole so malo kasneje iztrebili golobarji. V strahu, da jim ne bi 
polovili vseh plemenskih golobov visokoletačev, poškodujejo kakega slabšega 
letalca in mu na hrbet namažejo karbofuran, izjemno toksičen živčni strup in 
v vsej Evropi prepovedani pesticid. Sokol (selec in južni sokol) pa tudi kragulj 
ali skobec goloba v letu zgrabijo za zastrupljeni hrbet in skoraj v trenutku v 
mukah paralizirani poginejo. Natura 2000 v Črni gori tako ne bo imela niti 
enega samega območja opredeljenega za sokola selca ali južnega sokola, čeprav 
jih je bilo še pred desetletjem na desetine parov. A sokoli se bodo vrnili, morajo 
se! Ne bi imelo namreč smisla, da bi se Črnogorci od zdaj naprej pozdravljali z 
„Đe si golube?! …*”. 
* * *
From the extreme south-western edge of Lake Skadar, a goat track leads 
towards Poseljani and further on to Vir. Soon after the lively fishing village 
of Rijeka Crnojevića, the winding track rises rapidly, and the view from the 
thorny brushwood on the edge of the increasingly steep track abruptly stops 
on a huge overhanging rock known as Obodska greda (Obod Rockwall) 
by the locals. Gazing at the majestic rock, the guide of our small caravan 
brings to mind two young stuffed Golden Eagles Aquila chrysaëtus-fulva, 
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Uvodnik / Editorial
brought to the Zagreb Museum a year earlier by an unknown collector, 
and by looking at a pair of large raptors circling in the air a little too far to 
be worth aiming the musket at them ponders somewhat surprised: „They 
are still here …” It is the year 1895, 21 June to be precise, when Ludwig 
von Führer, a young adventurer from the capital of the Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy who a year earlier probably gave up studying veterinary studies 
for the sake of exciting life of bird collecting for the needs of the Natural 
History Museum in Sarajevo, set out on that hellish hot day from Rijeka 
Crnojevića to Vir. One hundred and twenty-three years later, on 29 May 
2018, a large Golden Eagle female rises in the air from her nest in Obodska 
greda, and in the very same moment at least three human heads are struck 
by the thought: „She's still here!” After more than a century, when all that 
additional junk was discarded from the bird's Latin name, making it merely 
Aquila chrysaetos, and when the world changed so very radically around 
us, Rijeka Crnojevića is still a little village. And it is quite possible that it 
numbers even less human souls than in the days the cunning Austrian was 
roaming this part of the world. But the very same wall, where the great-
great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother of the female Golden Eagle, 
which has just made a circle above us, unwillingly sacrificed their progeny 
for the needs of science of some other haughty species in some other time, 
is even in these days home to one of the most magnificent birds of this land. 
It is not strange at all that the Montenegrins identify themselves, the same 
as many other peoples on the old continent, with this mighty bird of prey. 
Not only that it is depicted on their national flag, the very same eagle is also 
portrayed by the best known Montenegrin dance called oro, meaning eagle 
in their language. And it is no rarity even today if a friend or acquaintance 
greets you with „Đe si, orle!*” or, even more often, „Đe si, sokole*!” 
But it is right here where the story gets dizzyingly complicated!
The end of 2016 marked one of the most exciting processes of the modern 
Montenegro ornithology. With the money of European tax-payers, a team 
of international and domestic bird experts set out to make the first step on 
the way to designate the Natura 2000 Network in Montenegro. What a 
treat! This little country lies, similarly as Slovenia, at the crossroad of two 
biogeographic regions. In this small area compete for attention the country's 
high mountains, steep banks that are in many places still overgrown with 
vast virgin forest remains, deeply cut canyons with clear, wild and utterly 
untamed rivers, pristine Lake Skadar, which is the largest lake in the Balkans, 
the Bojana River delta, Ulcinj saltpans (a true paradise for the birds migrating 
along their Adriatic Flyway), remains of steppes along Podgorica (the capital 
of Montenegro), and almost as mosaic cultural landscape as was experienced 
by Othmar Reiser, custodian in the Provincial Museum of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and mentor of the young Ludwig von Führer, from his home 
in Lower Styria more than a century ago. And the awareness that the two 
heroes of that time, who inadvertently wake up contradictory emotions in a 
modern ornithologist, were in numerous places in Montenegro not only the 
first but the last bird researchers before us as well! 
* Nice to see you, eagle/falcon/pigeon!
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Without false modesty I can say that the ensuing two years passed in 
maelstrom of new discoveries, unveiling not only little secrets of the world 
of birds but also the fact that all of us who had such incredible luck to find 
ourselves on the pages of still unwritten book of Montenegrin bird wealth 
felt like Alice in Wonderland after almost every field day. How could an 
ornithologist be not totally overwhelmed on a gorgeous morning when 
suddenly faced, in a lek, by 14 singing Capercaillies, when counting 18 on 
the second day in another lek, 23 on the third, and 30 or even more of them 
in the end?! An average lek found by us in Montenegro boasted between 5 
and 10 singing males, the number that can be reached in Slovenia only in 
few selected leks, i.e. 10 at the most. There are virtually no leks with over 
20 Capercaillies in Europe outside Russia, with the one hosting 30 males 
being perhaps the largest in this part of the continent.
In many places of Montenegro, forests retained numerous elements of 
virgin or ancient forests. Quite often, particularly in the northern part of the 
country, we come across vast stands of ancient forests that are very diverse 
in terms of their tree structure: beech, fir, spruce, Austrian and Scotch pine, 
Macedonian pine Pinus peuce and Bosnian pine P. heldreichii. The dry standing 
trees and branches as well as huge amounts of waste wood mass, which is 
not manically dragged out of the forests, allow for the existence of a perfect 
pyramid of organisms, with woodpeckers at its very top. Fifteen years ago, 
when we had a serious debate in Slovenia on reference values of populations 
of key bird species and on favourable conservation status of habitats, i.e. of 
the kind striven for in our country, we did not know Montenegro at all. If 
we did, we would no doubt have taken numerous forests of Montenegro 
as a standard, as a reference value of the forest with the value 1, 100%. The 
densities of the Three-toed, White-backed and Spotted Woodpeckers are 5, 
10 and 15 times higher than in Slovenia! Sorry, but Slovenia is reaching 0.1 of 
nature, Montenegro no less than 1.0! 
Forests, however, are not the only habitat type where Europe should 
look for aspiration in Montenegro and to which it should tend to. On 
all Montenegrin rivers, only one larger hydroelectric plant can be found! 
The rest is almost entirely wild and virgin. There are only two ski slopes on 
mountain pastures which, on the other hand, are home to 3,500-4,000 pairs 
of Rock Partridges, 10 times as many as in comparable Slovenia! Industry is 
almost non-existent and, additionally, the country is almost void of intensive 
agriculture with the exception of vineyard plantations in the vicinity of its 
capital city. Apart from forests and wetlands, it is perhaps the very cultural 
landscape that is most exceptional and has been preserved in Montenegro 
as almost unchanged in comparison with earlier times. Here, Natura 2000 
could in fact be named Natura 1900! And this with all sublime and justified 
pride that this nation succeeded in preserving something that is the rarest in 
Europe – traditional farming. You see almost no tractors in any village, while 
instead of repulsive plastic wrapped bales hayracks stand proudly at every step. 
And, believe me, they were not made in honour of reviving the ancient farm 
work, as encouraged by the local societies for the preservation of countryside in 
Slovenia, popularly known as „the land on the sunny side of the Alps”! In spite 
of the geo-morphological similarity and common recent history, Slovenia and 
Montenegro could not differ less from each other than they do. Specifically, 
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Uvodnik / Editorial
the citizens of the country with the title of world champions in the number 
of tractors per capita can hardly imagine that a stack of hay is still something 
functional and that there are still places in the world where the great majority 
of youth, including urban youngsters, spend the major part of summer by 
manually raking and turning hay and making hay racks.
It is thus not surprising that the populations of Barred Warbler, Lesser 
Grey Shrike, Ortolan Bunting and Hoopoe are a few tens greater than 
in Slovenia. Indeed, the people of Montenegro should be thankful for 
their preserved cultural landscape largely to their paucity and economic 
underdevelopment. But what I myself  – a citizen of Ljubljana and 
Ljubljansko barje  – would give for a little less „development” Western 
European style! For a day without tractor, slurry, artificial fertilizers, 
Monsanto corn monstrosity and cocktails of pesticides, baled silage and 
„developed” commasations instead of mosaic cultural landscape in the 
heart of nature park (!) I would gladly give a small fortune. Or would do 
what I often do – visit a most average Montenegrin village in the middle of 
the most unprotected part of the country and absorb with full lungs and 
soul something that seems such a distant past in Slovenia.
Still, Montenegro is no Arcadia, of course! Even though we shall 
designate, on completely independent scientific grounds, 33 areas for birds 
that are to cover more than 50% of the Montenegrin territory, the country is 
threatened by everything that can be harmful to it in these deranged times – 
the countless hydroelectric plants, most pristine forests processed into pellets 
that can be bought even at petrol stations, totally built up coastline, luxury 
holiday resorts at Lake Skadar and Ulcinj saltpans, nonsensical roadways 
and „countryside development”, all this as a promise of western welfare. But 
this country is still a measurement unit for nature! Ornis balcanica – the 
ornithological bible for the research carried out by Reiser and Führer more 
than a century ago – is still almost a modern ornithological overview, for 
most of everything mentioned in it is still in place, not just eagles but Stone 
Curlews, Collared Pratincoles, Ortolan Buntings, Rock Partridges, Short-
toad and Calandra Larks, Levant Sparrowhawks, Dalmatian Pelicans, all 
European herons and egrets and many other species as well. Practically all, 
except vultures and falcons. Vultures (all European species) were killed by 
shepherds who suddenly began to fear that these big birds could shortly start 
attacking their livestock, whereas falcons were just a little later exterminated 
by pigeon-keepers. In fear of pigeons hunting down all their high flying 
pigeons, they inflict damage on a weak flying pigeon and smear carbofuran 
(an exceptionally toxic nerve gas and in the whole of Europe prohibited 
pesticide) on its back. Falcon (Peregrine or Lanner) as well as Goshawk or 
Sparrowhawk grab the injured pigeon in flight by its poisoned back and 
paralyzed die almost instantly in severe pain. In Montenegro, Natura 2000 
will thus have not a single area designated for the Peregrine Falcon, although 
there were tens of pairs of them still there no more than a decade ago. But 
the falcons will return, they'll simply have to! For there would be no point 
any longer for the Montenegrins greeting each other with the words: „Đe 
si, golube!*”
Borut Rubinić