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A protected wetland that is home to hundreds of threatened species, some of them unique, has caught fire for the ninth time since 2011. A new assessment says the entire wetland will be lost by 2050 unless better care is taken.

The wetland spans 7411 hectares in south-west Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is fed by underground aquifers linked to the Krupa river, a tributary of the Neretva. More than 150 bird species spend the winter there: . Altogether it is home to more than 600 plants, 45 fish species and more than 163 bird species.

The site is managed by a public authority and holds a number of conservation accolades. In 2001 it was designated by the Ramsar Convention, and BirdLife International recognises it as an .

However, in October 1000 hectares of the wetland was destroyed by fire. A commission formed by the public authority estimated the cost of repairing the damage at 500,000 euros.

Don’t burn it down

It is the ninth fire since 2011, according to , an NGO focused on bird conservation.

Most of the fires have been relatively minor, but one blaze in 2011 destroyed much of the wetland, says , a director of the Hutovo Blato nature park.

Big fires release lots of nutrients into the wetland’s clean waters. This stimulates the growth of algae, causing algal blooms that reduce the water’s oxygen content and kill water organisms.

That is a big problem because Hutovo Blato is home to species that are found nowhere else in the world, such as and , says at the Polish Society for Protection of Birds. If those species are lost it will be almost impossible to restore them.

On the way out

“In crucial months the wetland is without water,” says Zovko.

That drying is due to nearby hydropower plants, which reduce the flow of water into Hutovo Blato, says of WWF in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 2014, the public authority teamed up with WWF to produce an action plan for revitalising the wetland. The key element is to restore the flow of water, but so far little progress has been made.

According to hydrological calculations by WWF, if the drying continues Hutovo Blato will be gone by 2050. Mateljak says it might even be sooner if a big enough fire happens.

Hutovo Blato is crucial because it lies on bird migration routes from Europe to Asia and Africa. Species that rely on it include , and . The wetland is also home to vulnerable dragonflies called and gets visitors from the Adriatic like critically endangered .