Pančevački Rit

Pančevački Rit (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчевачки рит) is a small geographical area in south-western Banat, Serbia.

Its 400 km2 (150 sq mi) wetland was constantly flooded, but since World War II it has been gradually drained and almost half of it has been turned into a very fertile patch of land, suitable especially for cultivating grains and vegetables.

In the south, the area ends with a river island (ada) Kožara (0.44 km2 (0.17 sq mi)) and the southwest is occupied by the wetland of Beljarica.

Urban sections of Krnjača, Kotež, Borča and Ovča swelled, with new neighborhoods being built without any permits or new communal infrastructure.

In 2020 plans were announced, which include construction of the footbridge across the river, beside two existing traffic bridges, which will connect the forest directly to the town of Pančevo.

As the area is agricultural, they feed on the crops (wheat, corn) and roots, but also on the fish and shells so many are found on the banks of the Danube.

Reappearance after 120 years is a result of the successful reintroduction project conducted since 2004 in the Zasavica reserve, some 90 km (56 mi) west of Belgrade.

Animals bred in the facility include roe deer, hare, quail, mallard, greylag goose and 13,000 pheasants per year.

As a result, almost all settlements in it are on wet ground and below the river level, which makes them prone to floods, especially in combination with the chronically clogged drainage system.

[1] After being almost uninhabited before 1945, today its population density is above average for Serbia as a whole, since some of the fastest growing suburbs of Belgrade (Borča, Padinska Skela and Krnjača) have been built there.