Durdevac Sands

The Durdevacki Pijesci are sands left by the Drava and reworked by wind, which by the nineteenth century had become a moving dune field big enough to bury fields and threaten the town - locals called it the Croatian Sahara. From the 1880s it was deliberately planted with pine and acacia to stabilise it, and the planting worked so completely that the open sand nearly disappeared. It was then protected in 1963 for the opposite reason: the specialised sand plants and insects that live there only survive on bare ground, so management now involves keeping a patch clear of the trees that were planted to stop it.

The landscape

• Blown sand in a river plain - unusual this far inland in Croatia.
• Planted to stop it moving - pine and acacia from the 1880s.
• Protected in 1963 - to keep some of it bare again.
• Specialised sand species - plants and insects that need open ground.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

What to expect

The open sand is a small area now, not a desert - the name oversells it considerably. Interpretation on site is limited. It is on the edge of a small town with few services. Ticks are present in the surrounding scrub.

Nearby

Durdevac and its fortress are next door; Hlebine is west.

Key facts