Monitoring the presence of invasive species in natural wetlands is crucial for numerous reasons, including their negative impact on biodiversity, conservation and the ecosystem services provided by these important fragile areas. The aim of this paper was to investigate the presence and distribution of the highly invasive liana Echinocystis lobata (wild cucumber), and to determine its coenological relations with the native plant species in the Ramsar sites of the southern part of the Pannonian Plain (the southeastern part of Central Europe, northern Serbia). We conducted the phytocenological research of the selected protected riparian areas in detail over a six-year period (2011-2015 and 2020). This study revealed the significant presence of the highly invasive species E. lobata in the studied sites. Wild cucumbers were found in 146 plots in four out of the seven investigated areas. Cluster analyses distinguished four groups of relev?s dominated by E. lobata, which were described, and their dominant and constant species were identified. Habitat type identification was done, and the habitat preferences of E. lobata were determined. The spatial distribution of the four groups is such that they occur in a number of different habitat types or local communities. The species pool which makes up each of these four groups is thus geographically larger than the local community under study, so we can treat them as independently established and well-defined new community assemblages. Plant communities dominated by the invasive species E. lobata have not been described previously. Therefore, this work provides new data, and contributes to the further research and comparative analyses needed to describe invasive plant communities dominated by wild cucumber. In addition, the identification of habitat types which are most occupied by E. lobata is very important for managers of protected areas, as it allows them to better control and remove this highly invasive species, but also to prevent its further spread.

The paper highlights key problems of rural development in the context of economic and environmental crisis, with focus on rural areas in Serbia. It emphasizes the link between sustainable rural development and environmental protection, particularly in the fields of organic agriculture, small organic farming and agro-eco tourism. It analyses legislative and strategic documents regulating this issue on universal, European and national level, making suggestions to improve their application. Obstacles for sustainable rural development include: uncultivated agricultural lands, soil pollution, insufficient irrigation or draining, agricultural lands fragmentation, poor infrastructure, inadequate tax policy, uncompleted restitutions, long probate proceedings and financially uncertain position of land-owners. Some of them have environmental impacts and can be resolved by suitable policy and legislation, strategic planning, environmental education and financial stimuli for green agriculture. The paper suggests legislators and policy makers in the areas of: sustainable development, taxes, agriculture, green economy and environment protection to analyse more profoundly key problems of rural development and their linkage to nature conservation. When it comes to practice, it suggests which legal documents should be applied in order to achieve successful, sustainable and environmentally acceptable development of rural areas. The paper contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between sustainable rural development and environment protection, emphasizing the possibility to preserve nature and increase incomes of rural communities through green agriculture, small farm production and eco-tourism. It also states that current legislative framework provides preconditions for resolving the issues that might appear within, suggesting key steps for its future implementation.

The authors aim to present the mechanism for the protection of the environment through misdemeanor law in Belgrade for the period from 2017 to 2022, analyzing its effectiveness in broad terms. The five-year period covered by this study is determined as a period in which certain trends can be recognized and followed, both in terms of the structure of prohibited behaviors directed against the environment and regarding the activities undertaken by competent administrative authorities and misdemeanor courts as a form of formal response. The study begins with the concept of the environment defined in the Environmental Protection Law. The study analyzes those misdemeanors whose commission changes and/or can change the states and conditions in the environment. The effectiveness of protection through misdemeanor law is analyzed in three aspects. First, the scope of the prescribed offenses is considered. On the other hand, the complete absence of prescribing certain actions directed against the environment as misdemeanors is observed. Further, the quality of the misdemeanor provisions themselves is considered, especially in terms of their sufficient specificity to ensure their straightforward application by administrative and judicial authorities. Finally, the outcomes of misdemeanor proceedings related to offenses against the environment are analyzed. Aiming to further dispel the myth of "environmental crimes" as victimless crimes, the authors cite and explain the effects of the most common misdemeanors on both the environment and human life and health.