The Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe REReP Record

Croatia offers major wetlands protection One of Europe’s most important river ecosystems received some much-needed support in February when Croatian Minister for Culture Bozo Biskupic signed a decree for preliminary protection of the Mura-Drava wetlands system. This unique natural heritage comprises an area of approximately 150,000 hectares, and is now Europe’s largest coherent riverine reserve. The Croatian Culture Ministry’s decree for preliminary protection of the Danube, Drava and Mura rivers derives from a detailed study carried out by experts and the State Institute for Nature Protection. The ministry now accepts responsibility for applying the EU’s nature protection standards, while the government’s pledge to grant ‘regional park’ status to the entire area is a key to ensuring the river network’s future safety. “Ongoing activities like […] gravel and sand extraction are not only extremely harmful to the rivers, but also not in line with Croatian and EU environmental legislation,” said Green Action Croatia’s Irma Popovic. “These destructive activities will no longer be possible following this decision.” Roughly 600 kilometres in length, the Danube, Drava and Mura rivers ecosystem is shared between Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia, and features a great diversity of endangered plant and animal species. The Drava River’s gravel and sand banks, for example, are the breeding grounds for the nearly extinct inland populations of the Little Tern. Drava Liga President Ivan Darko Grlica toldWWF: “We are very proud [of these] legal requirements that will help to save vulnerable species and habitats for the future.”

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