For years now, the water levels have been receding in one of Croatia's natural gems – Kopacki Rit.
Spread across 23,000 hectares, it's where the Drava River meets the Danube: A one-of-a-kind nature preserve in Slavonia, in eastern Croatia.
It is home to hundreds of unique species, which all depend on the floodwaters coming from the two rivers.
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As climate change started affecting river levels, Kopacki Rit started to receive less frequent and less intense floodwaters, affecting every single one of those species living in the swampland.
Cruises of one of Croatia's largest nature reserves have been limited as climate change impacting water levels./CGTN
Entire food chain impacted
"If there are no floods, then the fish spawning won't happen. Then the reptiles here, amphibians and birds feed on those fish eggs, and those fish don't have enough to eat," says Damir Opacic, a Kopacki Rit park ranger, explaining the effect of the floodwater on this ecosystem.
"It means that if you affect one link of that food chain, the entire chain would feel the consequences. The absence of the floods affects the entire nature park."
Croatia is fighting to protect its biodiversity, which is increasingly threatened by climate change.
Shortage of water is one of the main problems for many ecosystems in the country, with over one-fifth of its 2,500 species are considered to be under threat.
The tourist cruises that used to explore this swampland are now shorter, as there are fewer waterways deep enough for the boats to use.
Protecting Croatia's delicate ecosystems
The cormorants have had the largest population here, but the big colony of previous years has dramatically shrunk in size.
Meanwhile, beavers that were introduced two decades ago have started thriving in Kopacki Rit and inflicting more damage than expected.
Experts say this emphasizes the need for urgent protection of Croatia's delicate ecosystems, despite already strong regulation.
"By law, over 410 areas are protected, covering 820,000 hectares. It is 9.3 percent of the entire landmass of the Republic of Croatia," says Vlatka Gulan Zetic of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund of Croatia.
"Those protected areas are governed by the public institutions, which also monitor them and conduct various researches there."
But regardless of Croatia's efforts to improve the situation, the future of its ecosystems and others like it, is dependent on global action to slow down the effects of climate change.