Posted on 12 July 2013
Bad Radkersburg/Austria, Hrastje Mota/Slovenia,
Legrad/ Croatia, Örtilos/Hungary, Sombor/Serbia
– WWF in alliance with EuroNatur and many
partner NGOs will celebrate the first Amazon
of Europe Day on 14 July 2013 with various
events on the natural riverbanks of the
Mura, Drava and Danube. The three rivers
span Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia
and Serbia and will become Europe’s largest
cross-border protected area under the UNESCO
flag.
“14 July is about the
celebration of this amazing riverine landscape
shared by five countries. It will also be
an annual powerful reminder of Martin Schneider-Jacoby,
who pioneered the international protection
of the transboundary river system of ‘Europe’s
Amazon’, and will encourage us what we can
achieve when we work together”, said WWF
freshwater expert Arno Mohl.
Even before the Amazon
of Europe Day, various outdoor activities
on and along the Mura, Drava and Danube
have started in different places of the
region. In Croatia, conservationists dedicated
the past four weeks to reveal the “Seven
River Wonders of Croatia” to the public,
showing the natural river treasures which
the country contributed to Europe’s natural
heritage when it joined the EU on 1 July.
Croatia’s protected
rivers like the Danube, Drava, Mura, Sava,
Neretva, Ombla and Zrmanja are now part
of the Natura 2000 network but are still
threatened by river channelling, gravel
and sand extraction and hydropower plants
– measures that have to be now, more than
ever, in accordance with EU law.
A boat tour from Bad
Radkersburg in Austria to Hrastje Mota in
Slovenia will be carried out where the Mura
River straddles along the two countries
as a natural border and is protected as
a Natura 2000 site. Just at this western
entrance door to the future Transboundary
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube,
a disastrous hydro dam is likely to be built
to destroy Slovenia’s largest floodplain
forest.
On 14 July citizens
and politicians from Croatia and Hungary
are invited to celebrate together at Legrad,
where the Mura River flows into the Drava.
Zoltan Illes, Hungarian state secretary
for environmental affairs, will be present.
WWF and partners plan to hand over a petition
to the Croatian minister of the environment
Mihael Zmajlovic, demanding a better protection
of the Croatian rivers, now referring to
EU law.
Participants of the
event will also take part in the “Big Jump”
into the waters of Mura and Drava
as a demonstration for living rivers, in
contrary to lifeless channels that serve
only for navigation and electricity production.
At the same time in
Sombor, Serbia, river enthusiasts will also
jump into the Danube and celebrate their
share of the “Amazon of Europe”. Kids will
paint their visions of the biosphere reserve
in colourful drawings that will be presented
at an exhibition at the Bodrog festival
in the village of Backi Monoštor in August.
“In memorial of Martin
Schneider-Jacoby who was born on 14 July,
the Amazon of Europe Day will become a symbol
of people’s concern and commitment to save
their rivers across borders”, said Gabriel
Schwaderer, executive director of EuroNatur.
Martin Schneider-Jacoby had worked for EuroNatur
ever since its founding in 1987 until his
sudden death in August 2012.
“Martin Schneider-Jacoby
had dedicated most of his life to the conservation
of Central and East European and Balkan
rivers but he sadly left us much too early.
Thanks to his vision for large scale transboundary
protection of the Danube, Drava and Mura
rivers already in the early 11000s, he can
truly be called the “father” of the UNESCO
biosphere reserve. Together we will carry
on and finalise what Martin began”, concluded
Arno Mohl of WWF and Gabriel Schwaderer
of EuroNatur.
+ More
Sub-tropical wildlife
moving higher up
Posted on 09 July 2013
Of late, forestry officials in northern
protected areas in Bhutan are increasingly
sighting sub-tropical wildlife at unusual
habitats which, they claim, is a result
of climate change.
Recently, foresters in Bumdeling Wildlife
Sanctuary (BWS) sighted the Cattle Egret
(Bubulcus Ibis), a sub-tropical bird species
at an altitude of 4,538m. Officials say
the migration of the bird, which is better
acclimatized to sub-tropical ecologies,
to cold regions, is owing to causes of climate
change.
The foresters sited the bird was sited at
a place called Wangyela in Trashiyangtse
on 15th June while returning from cordyceps
patrolling. The same bird was also spotted
next day while it was feeding on the marshy
land in the same area by Sonam Choidup and
Tshering Chophel, foresters at BWS.
Similarly, among many of such instances,
in November, 2010, a family of Black-necked
Cranes was also seen in Chuzeygang, Gelephu
from their usual roosting grounds in high
altitude areas. In early 2012, a transient
solitary elephant was also seen at a height
of 3,419m on Showgayla ridge in Chukha.
