For the future Transboundary Biosphere Reserve "Mura-Drava-Danube" (TBR MDD), also called the "Amazon of Europe" (AoE), which connects 700 km of the rivers of Mura, Drava and Danube and five countries - Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Serbia, sustainable tourism shall be used to set noticeable incentives for the regional economy. As a socio-economic pilot project for the further development of the biosphere reserve, WWF Austria, in cooperation with EuroNatur is working on the establishment of a transboundary bike trail, the so-called "Amazon of Europe" Bike Trail. This shall be realised by building on and enhancing existing routes in all 5 countries.

Together with local stakeholders from all 5 countries, it is planned to create a harmonised implementation concept which shall form the basis for the implementation of the trail in future EU funded projects.

A first step towards this has been last week last week in Koprivnica, where the first out of three international stakeholder workshops was held. After a short introduction by the project leader, Arno Mohl from WWF Austria, Klaus Michor of Revital who has been assigned to develop a concept for a possible trail in this project, gave an informative talk on the great possibilities of bike trails for local people. Furthermore, Günter Mussnig, tourism expert of the National Park Hohe Tauern reviewed positive examples from the tourism sector and both speakers referred to the Alpe Adria Trail, they both worked on.

During the workshop, the participants were invited to work on a proposed route for the “Amazon of Europe” Bike Trail. The route was split into several sections, so participants could work on the sections they’re most familiar with. In the course of the workshop the route was further enhanced by e.g. getting parts of the trails closer to the river and also by pointing out important cultural & natural hotspots, where the trail should leady by.

The next steps are now to implement the suggestions made by the participants and further enhance the “Amazon of Europe” Bike Trail before the next Stakeholder Workshop in February 2016.
At the end of the project stands an implementation concept, which will be a summary of the harmonised bike trail project. that, in the medium- and long-term run, shall be used to implement the "Amazon of Europe" Bike Trail through e.g. EU projects.