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                                                                                                              October 5, 2012
In Serbia: Old Mountain Renewed
Vesna Kostic, Sr Communications Officer in the World Bank
Belgrade Office, offers this story.
                                                                     Photo Gallery
Stanko Pejcic couldn’t believe his eyes when he and his flock
of sheep came home after spending the summer in a
mountain pasture. His old house, dirt-floored, without an
indoor toilet, was renovated, with new tiles on the floors and
indoor plumbing. He and his wife hosted a group of tourists
last spring, something that would have been unthinkable a
year ago.

Not far away, Gordana Tosic tells the same story. "I never
had a job and my husband was laid off. We came back to               Related Links
Gostusha since this house now gives us the opportunity to
make money out of tourism."                                          The World Bank in Serbia
                                                                     Serbia Transitional Agriculture Reform
Life is coming back to Gostusha, a village on Serbia’s famous        Project
Old Mountain. Until recently, Gostusha was fading away, the
                                                                     Country Program Snapshot
village’s traditional architecture and way of life vanishing,
taking a piece of Serbia’s heritage with them.                       Stara Planina Sheep Breeds (Reykjavik,
                                                                     2011) (PDF)

Rebirth in an Old Place                                              Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
                                                                     Water Management
With support from the World Bank, the Serbian Government is
                                                                      Public Enterprise Stara Planina
offering small grants, tempting people back to deserted
villages. Tourism in Gostusha, Senokos, and Dojkinci are              Facebook: Stara Planina Nature Park
helping do that. Through farming and tourism, the grants aim
to bring life back to these lovely hills and pastures. Sergej Ivanov helps run the grants program. "Rural
tourism is giving local people the opportunity to stay in the village and to have the motivation to live
there."

The project also finances small repairs to roads and other infrastructure, as well as trails for hiking and
biking. It also paid for a new visitors’ center. "Before we started with the project there was no interest for
rural tourism whatsoever," says Nikodije Velinov, an agro-ecological consultant. "People have now
stopped selling their property for peanuts. The project played the role of a spark and you can see the
houses and roofs being rebuilt. Here and there young people are coming back."

Bringing Back Farming

Up on Old Mountain’s pastures, the animals are coming back, too. The land here was once famous for
its cattle. Now farmers are investing in rare breeds, and once-neglected pastures are being used once
again. Water buffalo, mountain ponies, Busha cattle, and donkeys are once more grazing this land.
Serbian officials want the region to catch up with European agricultural standards.

"Pirot sheep were already extinct. But now we have more than 200 of this breed in the region," explains
Sergei Ivanov. "We also have Karakachan sheep, which were very rare before. Now they number 300."

High up on the hills of Old Mountain, the homestead of Slavica Stanulov and Martin Krstev is richer, with
six cows, 35 sheep, and a new tractor. "I used to gather hay from two to two and a half hectares. This
tractor allows me to get it from eight hectares now, which makes my household more efficient. I am also
happy to have six Busha cows. Children born in the ‘80s have never even seen them, as they were
almost extinct," Martin Krstev explains.

Moving Home

                         Aleksandar Vasov, a veterinarian, left his job in the capital Belgrade and moved
                         back to Old Mountain to breed rare animals. The grants project helped him build
                         his new barn. "This modern barn will help me maintain old breeds and breed
                         them in a sustainable manner," Vasov says, "which includes animal welfare.
                        Their genetic potential is high and we should preserve them for generations to
                        come."

                     All told, the project’s grants paid for 1,449 heads of cattle, of which 810 are rare
Aleksandar Vasov     breeds. And with the animals comes food. Grant money is going for the
                     production of renowned local cheeses, for wool manufacturing, and for the
sustainable management of Old Mountain’s abundant natural resources.