ZAGREB, November 1, 2018 – A document establishing the steering committee for the UN-protected Mura-Drava-Danube transborder biosphere reserve has been signed in the Hungarian town of Mohacs, and the signing ceremony was attended by Jelena Pavleković, head of the Varaždin County institution responsible for the management of protected natural areas, the county said earlier this week.
The Mura-Drava-Danube biosphere reserve stretches across the border between Hungary and Croatia. It was created in July 2012 following a decision by the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme.
The steering committee was established based on long-standing cooperation between Croatian and Hungarian institutions managing protected Natura 2000 areas. Its aim is to coordinate the management of the protected areas, raise public awareness of the need to preserve the extraordinary biological diversity of the reserve, and prepare joints projects and studies, which should contribute to the sustainable development of local communities.
The steering committee is composed of nine member institutions, including three national parks and six public institutions responsible for the management of protected natural areas.
The member institutions will rotate every six months in chairing the steering committee. The first chair will be the Croatian public institution responsible for the management of protected natural areas in Virovitica-Podravina County, whose director, Tatjana Arnold Sabo, presented the initiative and the text of the memorandum establishing the steering committee.
The project is good news, especially given the recent warning about dangers to biodiversity in Croatia, as announced by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
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