Presentation short abstract

Rangers of Eastern Serbia and the Mlava Army lead self-organised, holistic nature conservation, defending ecosystems, local livelihoods, and community wellbeing against extractivist corporate mining in eastern Serbia.

Presentation long abstract

In recent years, Serbia has become a key site of extractivist expansion on the European periphery, where international and domestic corporations pursue intensive mineral exploration. These activities often exceed legal boundaries, bypass local consultation, and generate serious environmental degradation. Eastern Serbia, rich in gold, copper, and lithium deposits, has become one of the main frontlines of this conflict between corporate extractivism and local communities. In the Homolje Mountains, Dundee Precious Metals has conducted exploratory drilling and announced plans for gold extraction in ecologically sensitive areas around the Mlava River. These incursions have provoked strong community responses, leading to the emergence of the grassroots groups The Mlava Army and Rengers of Eastern Serbia. Their activism combines public documentation of illegal corporate operations, legal advocacy, and direct protection of local ecosystems. Through patrols, and public awareness campaigns, they expose unregulated exploration practices and mobilize solidarity networks across Serbia. I will look at this initiatives employong the concept of holistic nature conservation. This concept emphasizes the interdependence of ecological, social, and cultural systems in environmental protection. Unlike traditional conservation approaches that focus narrowly on protecting individual species or habitats, holistic conservation integrates multiple dimensions of sustainability: ecosystem integrity, community wellbeing, and cultural heritage. These initiatives exemplify a bottom-up model of conservation that connects ecological integrity with social justice. By resisting extractive corporate power and building autonomous frameworks for care, solidarity, and accountability, they demonstrate how communities on Europe’s periphery are trying to reclaim ecological sovereignty through self-organised nature conservation.