News
Within the LIFE RESTORE for MDD project, privately owned forest land inside the Natura 2000 site along the Croatian Mura in Međimurje County is being purchased for nature conservation. With 10 hectares already secured, the project has now reached half of its land purchase target, which is planned to be completed by the end of 2026.
Land purchase is an important tool in nature conservation because it creates long-term security for valuable habitats. Once acquired, these forest areas can be permanently dedicated to nature conservation and left to natural processes. In this case, the purchased land will be allowed to develop through natural succession, helping to improve habitat quality and create more favourable living conditions for many rare and endangered animal and plant species.
A key challenge in the area is the highly fragmented ownership structure. Due to inheritance and succession, forest land has often been divided into many small parcels, making it necessary to reach a large number of individual landowners. To address this, WWF-Austria and Međimurje Nature Public Institution worked together with experts from the University of Vienna to develop and test a more effective and transparent communication approach.
Landowners in selected target areas were contacted directly and through local newspapers and invited to public information events. At these events, they received information about the project, the ecological importance of the area, and the possibility to sell their land voluntarily. Because the project budget is limited, interested landowners were informed that offers can only be considered if they meet the ecological and project criteria, and that they will be processed according to availability of funds.
The response has been very encouraging. The information events showed a positive attitude towards the project plans and a high willingness among landowners to contribute to nature conservation. From the offered land located within the pre-selected sites and corresponding to the target habitat types 91E0* and 91F0 in the Croatian Natura 2000 site Mura (SAC HR2000364) in Međimurje County, 10 hectares have already been purchased. This means that half of the project’s land purchase goal has already been achieved – an important milestone for restoring and protecting valuable floodplain forest habitats in the Amazon of Europe.