Okanj pond, along with Slano Kopovo and Rusanda lakes, is one of the three most representative and most attractive salt lakes preserved in the paleomeanders of the Tisza river in central Banat. Its water and wetland habitats and salt marshes of different salinity represent a type of habitat of the primary protection in the Pannonian plant geographic region. Having understood the simmilarities in terms of plant cover and fauna between Okanj pond and the aforementioned lakes, the nature lovers from Elemir decided to try and protect Okanj, which is located just outside their village. Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia from the City of Novi Sad supported the initiative immediately. With the strengthening of cross-border cooperation, especially after 2000, nature conservation engineers and environmentalists from all over the Europe inquired about Okanj pond.

The importance of the Okanj area is immesurable. It is one of the rare preserved Pannonian types of landscapes whose saline soil, meadow, steppe, wetland and aquatic ecosystems are important for preserving the overall biological diversity of the Banat region, Vojvodina, Serbia and Europe. In this area, specific ecosystems on saline soil have been preserved, which only occur on wet sands, dried ponds and depressions of low salinity. Within the meadow – steppe vegetation of continental salt marshes, there are wet meadows of high salinity and meadow – steppe vegetation of poorly saline lands. The specificity of the area is hightened by the preserved wetland vegetation of saline habitats.

The copiousness of the plant life is accompanied by the diversity of the animal life specific to the Pannonian lowlands. These habitat types have been identified as a priority in the Republic of Serbia (Ordinance on criteria for classification of habitat types as vulnerable, endangered and threatened). Okanj area with Rusanda has a verified international status significant for birds (IBA) and plants (IPA). The area is considered for nomination for inclusion in the Ramsar List. Its distinct value consists of sensitive ecosystems with a large number of species and individuals that gather here during migration season, as well as nesting of different species of heron and many other rare species. These habitats have been proposed to enter the NATURA 2000 ecological network. NATURA 2000 is an EU nature protection programme aimed at preserving or restoring the favorable status of more than a thousand endangered, rare and ecologically valuable species, as well as about 230 natural and semi-natural habitats by establishing ecological networks of the most important areas of preserved nature.

Okanj pond and its depression are connected with the river Tisza. The southern arm of the pond is connected with the river through a system of interconnected shallower depression of Okanjica, and Žuglja and Crvenka ponds. In addition to these depressions, there are more smaller ponds and wet meadows intersected by a canal, which is a part of melioration network. All depressions and watercourses provide an ecological corridor towards the Tisza, and through it, towards a pan-European ecological network (Bennett & Wit, 2001).

The marshy shores and the great natural vegetation coverage towards the Tisza provide a functional connection of the protected area not only in hydrological, but also in ecological terms. The wider area of Okanj pond has been singled out as the central area of the national ecological network called Okanj and Rusanda, labeled area nr. 9. In order to preserve the priority habitats of the greater Pannonian plant-geographical region, it was deemed necessary to put the Okanj pond area under protection as the Special Nature Reserve “Okanj Bara”.