VELIKA POLANA, SLOVENIA - On 23rd January, the pentalateral Ministerial Coordination Board (CB) for the establishment of the 5-country Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” held a meeting, after an invitation by the Slovenian Ministry for the Environment and Spatial Planning. The meeting was hosted by the Velika Polana Municipality. Apart from the members of the CB, the meeting was attended by Miguel Clüsener-Godt, Director of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program, who provided insight on necessary steps for a nomination on a transboundary level.

While several project partners participated in the meeting as members of the CB, others were present as observers. Magdalena Wagner (WWF AT) presented the transboundary results of the coop MDD project, namely the three documents forming the “Transboundary Cooperation Programme for the coordinated management of the planned 5-country Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube”. Aleksander Koren (IRSNC) elaborated on the development process and results of their local action plan for Mura Biosphere Reserve in Slovenia, followed by Damijan Jaklin (Velika Polana) who showcased the possibilities of bringing municipalities and local producers together, as was done on an event in November 2018. Apart from coop MDD project, DTP projects AoE Bike Trail and REFOCuS were presented, as well as Interreg AT-SI goMURra project.

After the project and country presentations, WWF AT proposed to use the remaining time on the coop MDD project to integrate the project results into the working methodology of the Coordination Board, by showcasing how the results of the project (and other basic information or other DTP projects) can be integrated into the content basis for the pentalateral nomination form for the world’s first 5-country biosphere reserve. The suggestion was accepted by the Coordination Board, and a date for a follow-up workshop in May 2019 was set.

This is an important success for the coop MDD project since the integration of our project results with the work of the Coordination Board represents the policy integration on a highest possible level. The process will also be a major step forward regarding the 5-country biosphere reserve, building on the momentum set by Serbian (2017) and Slovenian (2018) establishment of biosphere reserves, as well as the Austrian nomination (to be decided upon by UNESCO in 2019).

The Coordination Board Meeting was preceded by a celebration of the Slovenian Biosphere Reserve Mura on 22nd January, where biosphere reserve certificates were awarded by Miguel Clüsener-Godt and the Slovenian Minister of Environment Jure Leben to mayors of the 16 municipalities.