No open fire within 200 metres of any forest in Serbia
The Agriculture Ministry issued a public appeal on August 1 over wildfire risk. The Forest Directorate ordered extra protection measures and inspectors are stepping up field checks.
Can you burn weeds on a field that backs onto a forest? No, and this is not a new rule. Serbia’s Law on Forests bans open fire inside forests and on land next to them, anywhere closer than 200 metres from the forest edge. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management repeated that ban on August 1, 2026, in a public appeal prompted by rising wildfire risk.
The trigger is not a single fire. It is a run of very hot days. The Forest Directorate has ordered operators managing state forests to step up fire protection measures in line with their protection plans and current regulations. Field checks are being tightened too, through the forestry and hunting inspectorates, working with other responsible services.
Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Minister Dragan Glamocic said in the ministry’s statement:
In conditions of extremely high temperatures and prolonged drought, every irresponsible act can cause a fire with unforeseeable consequences
Behind that sentence sits the simple arithmetic of this summer: dry soil, little rain, and wind that can carry flames from a stubble field to the nearest treeline in minutes.
What is off limits
The ministry listed the situations that start most fires:
- open fire inside a forest or on land within 200 metres of the forest edge
- uncontrolled use of fire during farm work, meaning burning weeds, stubble and grass
- dropping cigarette butts, glass and other objects outdoors, since a shard of glass on dry grass is enough to start something
Open fire is allowed only at maintained, marked sites built for it. That is the part people skip on a day out, when the barbecue goes wherever it is convenient rather than where it belongs.
Who do you call?
Any fire you spot goes straight to the Emergency Situations Sector of the Interior Ministry, known in Serbia as the MUP. One practical note from every summer here: do not assume someone else has already called, and do not spend the first minute filming it. Give the exact location first, then think about whether there is anything you can safely do yourself.
Why the warning lands now
This is not a quiet week. The Republic Hydrometeorological Service forecasts highs of around 40 degrees Celsius in most of the country between August 5 and 8. We covered the same heatwave when outdoor work was ordered to stop between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., and that heat has now reached the forests.
The appeal also follows large fires in France, Spain and Greece. Serbia has not had a blaze on that scale this season, which is exactly why the rules are being tightened now rather than after the first big column of smoke over a hillside.
Glamocic added in the statement:
That is why I call on all citizens to respect the regulations, act conscientiously and help us jointly preserve our forests, agricultural land, property and the environment. Prevention is our most important protective measure today
Our advice before the weekend is short. If your land runs up to a forest, let the weeds wait until autumn. If you head outdoors, use a marked barbecue spot and put the cigarette butt in a bottle, not in the grass. The fine is not the real reason. On days like these one spark is enough to take hectares that will not grow back for decades.
