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February 2nd, 2013, World Wetlands Day: Rain, cold temperatures and even snow - one would say a true wetland day. Despite the unfavourable hiking conditions about 400 “friends of the Mura River” joined the 14 km walk along Mura River downstream of Bad Radkersburg in Austria on the border to Slovenia. Since 2000 the "Committee for the protection of the Mura River” organizes these traditional walks on World Wetland Day in one of the Mura countries Austria, Croatia, Hungary or Slovenia. Each year a new stretch of the wonderful Mura floodplains is explored to show the values of the still existing floodplain forests at Mura and threats to the River and its floodplains.

The Natura 200 site in Austria covers 34 km along the Mura River, which shares its border with Slovenia. It marks the origin of the free-flowing lower stretches of the Mura and hosts the second largest floodplain forests in Austria. Nevertheless, the river´s course has been regulated in the past and many side branches have been cut off from the river. EU-funded restoration projects are now trying to restore natural conditions.

More information about Ramsar Convention 
More information on the Ramsar hike along Mura river  

The still natural confluence of Mura and Drava rivers, straddling along the Croatian and Hungarian border, will not be channelled according to the latest decision by the Croatian Environmental Ministry. This is an important signal to effectively protect the core zone of the recently designated Croatian-Hungarian part of the future 5-country UNESCO Biosphere reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube”.

The “Mura-Drava” confluence is a hotspot for rare species such as black stork, little tern, otter or the last occurrence of the German Tamarisk in Croatia. All species rely on still existing natural shifting of the riverbeds and their habitats like floodplain forests, sand and gravel banks or unspoilt shores.

Preceding the wise decision of the environmental ministry, WWF, EuroNatur and the Drava League led a four year long battle against this environmental disastrous project. The plans of the Croatian and Hungarian water engineering authorities envisaged to transform the living rivers into a lifeless canal. The NGOs also raised the concern of the European Commission which commissioned an independent expert who criticised the project severely.


See video by Goran Safarek 

On 15th August 2012 Dr. Martin Schneider-Jacoby died after a brief, severe illness at the age of 56. As a staff member of EuroNatur for 25 years - for virtually half of his lifetime - he was committed to the preservation of Europe´s natural heritage, and he never faltered in this commitment. Martin Schneider-Jacoby was especially dedicated to nature conservation on the Balkans. He was a pioneer in the preservation of its most outstanding biodiversity hotspots, like the Sava wetlands of Lonjsko polje.  At the beginning of the nineties, he initiated the large scale trans-boundary protection of the Danube, Drava and Mura rivers – by starting to build up a cooperation between the five Mura-Drava-Danube countries aiming at one major goal: the establishment of a joint UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The first concept for a 5-country reserve was developed in 1998 and it formed the basis for the recent achievements. He can truly be called the “prime father” of the reserve.

The death of Martin Schneider-Jacoby is a severe loss, both as an excellent nature conservationist and as a very much appreciated friend and colleague. We cannot replace Martin Schneider-Jacoby but we can do our utmost to carry on his conservation work and his spirit.

Our heartfelt thanks go to him for his many years of exceptional commitment and involvement. And we wish to express our sincere sympathies to his immediate circle, his family and to all those who were close to him.

WWF and the "Mura-Drava-Danube" team

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Good news on Mura, Drava and Danube: the Croatian-Hungarian part of the planned 5-Country Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” was officially approved on 11 July 2012 by UNESCO MAB Committee in Paris. It covers  630,000 ha (about 80% of the future 5-Country Biosphere reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube”): 240,000 ha core and buffer zones (existing protecting area network) plus additional 390,000 ha transition zones. This new cross border biosphere reserve is the basis for effective protection and better management of the rivers and their catchment area, ecological river basin management and revitalisation. But also enables sustainable development of the region and its cultural values. Especially in our fight against the planned Danube regulation in Croatia and other lurking dangers like plans for hydropower dams or sediment extraction international protection is of enormous importance.

Already 2009 the environmental ministers of Croatia and Hungary signed a joint declaration to establish a Trans-Boundary Biosphere Reserve along the Mura, Drava and Danube Rivers. Given the global significance of this agreement, WWF has highlighted the leading role of the Governments of Croatia and Hungary with a “Leaders for a Living Planet” award. WWF wholeheartedly congratulates the Croatian and Hungarian ministries on keeping the promise, and leading the way for Austria, Slovenia and Serbia. Serbia plans to submit in September 2012 at UNESCO MAB, and also Austria and Slovenia are undertaking first steps for nomination.

The governmental agreement between Croatia and Hungary is based on over a decade of work by park authorities, nature conservation institutions and governments with string promotion of the non-governmental sector including WWF, EuroNatur, Drava League, Green Action, Green Osijek, Croatian Society for Bird and Nature Protection, ZEUS, ZEO Nobilis, DOPPS-Birdlife Slovenia and Drava Federation.

Read press release of UNESCO MAB  
See photos at UNESCO MAB website 

Read Press release of WWF Austria 
Read Press release of WWF Hungary 

Osijek/Croatia, June 19th, 2012 – More than 50 kilometres of the entire Danube’s best preserved floodplain areas shall soon fall victim to devastating and illegitimate regulation measures, an alliance of international and Croatian NGOs warned in Osijek today. Affected is the region between the Croatian village of Batina and the confluence of the Danube and the Drava at Aljmaš, including the world famous Nature Park “Kopački rit” in Croatia, bordering Serbia. A group of journalists, representing major European media is currently visiting this area to get a first-hand impression of the natural values at stake.

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