(ANSA) - BELGRADE, SEP 16 - The United Nations educational
scientific and cultural organisation UNESCO has formally
declared a 'biosphere reserve' spanning the Mura, Drava and
Danube rivers, the first five-country biosphere in the world,
the Slovenian news agency STA reported on Wednesday. The
biosphere has an area of 900,000 hectares along the three
rivers, and it is the largest protected riparian reserve in
Europe. The nomination for the biosphere reserve was submitted
by Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia in 2019. It
brings together "the Lower Mura Valley Biosphere Reserve
(Austria), the Mura-Drava-Danube Transboundary Biosphere Reserve
(Croatia and Hungary), the Backo Podunavlje Biosphere Reserve
(Serbia) and the Mura River Biosphere Reserve (Slovenia),"
UNESCO said in a statement. "The first biosphere reserve to
connect five countries in the world encompasses the largest and
best-preserved river system in Central Europe and aims to create
a model of international cooperation for river basin management,
while building bridges between people and nature," UNESCO noted.
The creation of the biosphere reserve "is a historic step
towards a new era for people and nature in Europe," the WWF
said, underlining that the protected area "has been called the
'Amazon of Europe' due to its thriving biodiversity" and it is
currently "the largest river-based protected area" in Europe.
"The decision to protect the 'Amazon of Europe' is a beacon of
hope that should be replicated across the continent," said
Claire Baffert, Senior Water Policy Officer at WWF European
Policy Office. WWF, together with the MAVA Foundation and local
partners supported for years the creation of the reserve, WWF
noted. (ANSA).
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