River Drava - Repaski Most

UNESCO “Man & Biosphere” program is helping the creation of biosphere reserves. The Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere is an example of such a reserve formed in agreement between Croatia & Hungary.
So what’s a Biosphere Reserve? It is an ecological area with 3 key priorities: Protection of natural assets Encourage sustainable ecological development and Stimulate scientific research related to the improvement of the quality of life and sustainable use of natural goods The Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere covers 500 kilometres of 3 river flows and is located around 630,000 hectares of beautiful natural & cultural landscape comprising very rare but large flood resorts, river islands, pebble & sand coasts and oxbow lakes.

The reserve also serves as the home of several endangered species such as the little tern, black stork, otter or sterlet. This reserve houses the biggest nesting population of the very rare white tailed eagle in Europe and is an extremely important winter habitation for more than 250,000 wading birds every year.
This protected river area is important for the socio-economic development of the surrounding area for the following reasons:
Progress of continental eco-tourism which in turn enhances awareness of the need to protect the natural surroundings & environment of the entire region Agriculture & fishery management. Sustainable forestry. Efficient flood defence system and last but not the least Primary source of drinking water Representatives from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) state that this ecological reserve has the richest biological diversity of species in Europe.

With such a cross-border Croatian & Hungarian biosphere reserve coming in to being, a nomination plan for the Mura-Drava-Danube biosphere reserve has also been formed now with the help of a bilateral work group.
With such a nomination plan, Croatia now needs to develop the Mura-Drava Regional Park, ascertaining efficient management of the central zone of this biosphere reserve of tomorrow. Going by timelines, the biosphere reserve should be declared in 2010 and this in turn should attract people and authorities to develop in harmony with nature and the beautiful environment.

The matter of protecting River Drava is of significant importance within the European framework as this is the only remaining part of the river’s natural flow. A lot of efforts are in progress in other countries to retrieve the river bed’s natural appearance and to renew its biological diversity, while the area remains protected in Croatia.
Certain natural resources of this River Drava area has made Croatia get actively involved in the ecological protection of this area with the creation of the Mura-Drava Regional Park which covers the area of this ecosystem on Croatian territory. That’s not all … for this area also stands enlisted in to the National Ecological Network – NATURA 2000 as a potential area of ecological significance in the European Union.

All this along with the tie-up between Croatia & Hungary on the setting up of the Mura-Drava-Danube biosphere reserve ensures that the total area between the two states would be included and this is a matter of exceptional significance for the protection of the natural surroundings.
Such a joint effort by Croatia & Hungary on the creation of a cross-border reserve copud set the foundation of an international biosphere reserve with countries like Austria, Slovenia & Serbia joining in. A first of its kind, this natural reserve would spread across five European countries and would be the largest protected river area in Europe. Keeping this in mind, members of Croatian and other foreign non-governmental ecological associations have invited Slovenia, Serbia & Austria to join in and contribute to the idea of the proposed biosphere reserve and in the process do their bit to complete the process of protecting a beautiful green zone in the heart of Europe.

River Gacka - Fly Fishing

Karstic waters is located in Kostelka source in Ličko Lešće, and is the centre in Croatia for ingenious variety of crawfish and fish. The main aim behind forming this centre was to promote scientific research and farming of ingenious species farming. After a year of it being formed, tourists found out about the spot and since then it became a popular tourist attraction. Recently an agreement has been signed between the United Nations Development Program and the representatives from the Otocac. As per this agreement these two bodies together will finance the up gradation of the centre. By providing the finance to the centre the authorities want that it gets satisfactory representation so that the story of the fish in the Karstic waters can be told to the visitors and the tourists in a very striking way. The main aim of the concerned authorities is to make this project the stepping stone in creating the awareness of preserving the fishes and the waters so that later on in the future a Water Centre can be constructed in the vacant area of the hydroelectric power plant in Svica. With this centre the authorities feel that a message can be given to the masses that tourism and protection of the species can be done together and is this way one can live from the protection and also protect the endangered species.
The European Union funded the construction of The Croatian Center for the indigenous species of fish and crawfish in karstic waters. This was one of the initial projects in the PHARE 2005 Programme and last year in the month of November it opened formally. The main founders of the centre were the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, town of Otocac, Gacka d.o.o and the Ruđer Bošković Institute.
Recently this beauty was visited by two journalists from America named, John Needden and Ashley Colburn who recorded original scenes for two TV shows, ‘Wow Croatia’ and ‘Vicarious Escapes’. Another project called “Every Drop Matters – River Gacka” is being supported by the UNDP. In this project a map called “The Path of Water and Karst – Discover Gacka and Velebit on a Bike” was published which had two new cycling maps. The map is so called because it has the map of the cycling trails which go through River Gacka and the bottom of Velebit Mountain. This map is redesigned and is of the 43 kilometre long Barkan trails.

Zadar Dalmatia Croatia

The salt production is now a very well planned and equipped activity in the Croatia. It was earlier a very normal activity in Nin near Zadar but now it is a fully devised program for the tourists. This happened when two years ago a salt plant in Nin was converted into a natural park and numerous guides were made available for the tourists. This development started of with this activity. The salt park in Ston and Nin are the two unique ones in the Adriatic where salt is produced using traditional methodologies. The technology which was used about thousands of years ago for the production of salt is used in these salt parks. It basically involves the usage of sea water from the shallow pool.
As a result of this method the entire area surrounding this place was needed to be protected as a natural good so as to conserve the flora and fauna. The project by the UN named Natura 2000 will prove supportive because ultimately it will be helping them conserve the entire Laguna as well. These salts plants can be regarded as an ancient commodity because these were created during the Roman era. This program of salt production using ancient methods entices tourists and lures them. Tourists appreciate this art and ultimately buy various souvenirs of Mediterranean.
Since the methods used for salt production is purely natural and due to the presence of algae in the sea, salt contains high amount of iodine. This makes this salt quite special. Scented bath salt which is processed using natural oils and crystals of salts are two products which are always in high demand in the markets.

Lonjsko Polje Nature Park, Croatia

The Lonjsko polje Nature Park, located along the River Sava in the Sisak-Moslavina County, is a unique bird reserve. It is spread over an area larger than 50 thousand hectares and constitutes the largest marshland of the entire Danube River basin. On account of its specific hydrological and geo-morphological characteristics, it is rich in a variety of fauna and flora. Almost all European wetland and marsh plant species can be found there, more than 550 of them. Also, a large number of marsh bird species spawn in the area – the white stork, several heron species, the spoonbill, the white-tailed eagle, the lesser spotted eagle and many migratory bird species.
There are two ornithological reserves within the park: Krapje đol and Rakita. Adding to the value of the park are villages with preserved traditional characteristics and wooden houses typical for the Posavina region, some of them older than 200 years. They are built exclusively out of natural materials and held together by wooden bolts, without a single nail. They are not painted, but acquire a natural patina with age. In the past, young men would put them apart before they got married and then reassembled them where they planned on starting a new life with their future brides. Today, the villages Krapje and Čigoć attract the greatest number of visitors. Many tourists from around the world, especially from Japan, come to see the white storks nesting on the rooftops.
At the initiative of the European natural heritage foundation, Čigoć was proclaimed the European village of storks in 1994, and Krapje was proclaimed a village of architectural heritage in 1995. Apart from stork-watching, Lonjsko polje offers a variety of other activities to its visitors. Many village households engaged in rural tourism offer the possibility of an active vacation with a series of recreational activities such as riding horse carriages, boat trips, bicycling, fishing, horseback-riding and others.
Official Nature Park Website
Lonjsko Polje is also listed as tentative for UNESCO world heritage protection.