Serbian bird-watching group uses crowdfunding to buy and preserve woodland habitat

PLANDISTE, Serbia -- The merry chirping of birds echoed through towering trees in a small woodland in northeastern Serbia. Down on the ground, animal tracks could be seen imprinted in the moist grass and moss.The 5-acre (2-hectare) piece of land, dubbed the Nightingale's Forest, is a rare patch of thick greenery in the flat, farming region of Serbia. The Balkan country's Bird Protection and Study Society bought the land last year through crowdfunding to preserve the forest and set an example in environmental protection.“This woodland was privately owned, and we saw it was put up for sale,” society representative Uros Stojiljkovic told The Associated Press, adding that the trees probably would have been cut down if someone else had bought the land.“The value of timber was higher than its (land) price," Stojiljkovic said. "We protected it this way."The success of the crowdfunding initiative is seen as a sign of growing interest in nature protection among people in Serbia as the country faces environmental problems from air and river pollution and waste management to profit-driven construction threatening green areas, particularly in big cities. Authorities have pledged to boost environmental care as part of the country's European Union membership bid, but protection