О важности птица : примери егзистенцијалне вредности и практичног значаја у Србији

Abstract

Разматрају се се могућности вредновања птица у склопу биолошке разноврсности и услуга екосистема, и отвара више приступа тим питањима. Даје се широк преглед примера значајности и значења птица у ли- тератури, језику, археологији, етнологији и другим областима стваралаштва. Разматрају се принципи права коришћења вредности птица. Указује се на неоп- ходност планирања (дизајнирања) истраживања вредности птица у Србији. По- себно се наглашава све већа потреба уочавања и вредновања птица-индикатора промена у екосистемима. Недостатак мрежа за мониторинг и професионалних орнитолога, може се ублажити уз ослонац на грађанску науку (наводе се успеш- ни примери).

Unsuffiscent awarness on the importance of the existence of birds is among the major reasons why the results of scientific ornirhological research so poorely end in its implementation in ecomomic development, in environmental conservation, in education, culture and other social activities. Consequently, in Serbia, there are the irregularity of financial support to bird studies, the shortage in professional ornithologists, and the lack of regular academic curricula on the Class Aves. The perception of the importance of birds evolved conceptually during time. In 19th and 20th centuries in Serbia dominated a concept of the practical, so-called economic importance of birds. It was based on divergently evaluating each bird species either as beneficial or as a pest. In modern agronomy and forestry, evidence on activities of the birds, allied to humans, increased. Positivelly have been valuated especially perching bird species when controll the insects as pests, and some raptors and owls – predators of rodents. And oppositelly, lot of birds have been labelled negativelly and considered nuissible in agroculture and forestry. Problem appears when the same species, such as some raptors, are mutually beneficial (controlling rodents) and nuissible (taking poultry). In cities, negative attitude is recorded toward gregarious species that pollute public and private surfaces. The conflicts between fisheries and piscivorous birds are notoriuous. Gregarious birds attracted by huge airport landing areas and runways cause a serious security risk to the air transport. In the first half of 20th century the more sound question of assessing the importance of birds excallates, pollarising the experts into conservationists and representatives of development interests. As a result of first attempting to compromisingly regulate this matter, the international Convention for the Protection of Birds Useful to Agriculture was signed in Paris 1902. Serbian national lows followed this approach and forbided destruction of beneficial species, allowing (and even ordering) killing of bird pests. By the end of the first half of 20th century the scientists renowned in Serbia start to publicly emphasise the deficiencies of such an black/white concept. Step by step, in novelling hunt regulations the number of pest species officially decreased to few. As a result of environmental studies and under recommendations of Biodiversity Convention, the evaluation of birds in Serbia of 21th century conversed to the concept of the protection of natural values and conservation of biological diversity. Instead of most beneficial to economy, most valuable species become those most threatened, in need of most protection, to be safeguarded from extinction. Simultaneously, birds were evaluated in the scope of famous ecosystem services. Among cultural services, birds provide physical and intellectual, as well as spiritual, symbolic and other interactions with humans. True, in all cultures and religions birds play important roles. From the earliest childhood, man admires birds. Some authors recognise this as fascination of birds. The reflection or perception of the birds in traditional and contemporary creativity is multifold. The semantics of birds in general, and of individual species is complex in the cultural, linguistic, literary, artistic, historiographic, scientific, mythological, religious, political, and any other aspects. In fact, the reflection on birds in us, tells much more on us than on birds, as proved as yet in childish drawings. Birds are mentioned already in the starting sentence of Iliad, in the very beginning step of European literature. A bird is the first word of the first verse of the earliest record of a Serbian epic poem from 15th century. An unexpected avian allegoric antithesis in the beginning of one among the oldest Serbian epic poems, the one on the Fall of Serbian Empire, uses two different bird species as personifications of saints. Birds have specific position in Serbian, as well as in most other languages, that could be considered as the oldest and most persistent treasure of memorised experiences. Significance of lexic richness becommes obvious in the fact that average people knows many more traditional species names of birds than the number of species they can describe or identify on the plates or in the field. Even the designers of national courts of arms used to be unfamiliar with proper appearences of the birds they depicted. The harizmas and symbolic significances of some species do not correspond necessarily with natural characteristics of given birds. This divergence originates back to the ancient times and was communicated to modern days by medieval Physiologuses, didactic religious textes, translated to Serbian. The early inhabitants of todays Serbia gave an enormous importance to the birds. Archaeological findings from the Iron and Bronze Ages allong the middle course of Daube, and wider in central parts of Balcan Peninsula, contain a dominating number of votive and ritual ornithomorphic objects and pottery carrying avian depictions. In the same ages presentation of any other animal are very few. The abbility of birds to play the roles of excellent bioindicators is one of the classical service values in cathegory of regulating and sustaining ecosystems. Birds may indicate the status of ecosystem, the quality of habitat, the effects of climatic changes, the pollution, the spread of diseases, as well as many other changes, processes and phenomena. However, there is no instiutional service, project nor network for monitoring birds as indicators of ecological changes. Instead of that, there are some well organised and efficient programmes of civil research. Civil ornithological organisations in Serbia attract increasing number of amateur bird-watchers, bird photogaphers and naturalists. In that way, those organisations become a value themself because they create a new value – enhance the quality of life for their members. Consequently, a new interest group appears, with the conservation of existential values of birds as a principal goal. This social group calls publicly for its civil right to utilise the natural values and opposes to other such groups (hunters, fishermen) aiming to exploit nature`s welth exclusively.