WWF Urges Action To Save “Amazon of Europe"

A WWF petition to save the Danube’s most valuable and best preserved natural river stretch is underway and despite support from close to 10,000 people more signatures are needed. The petition aims to stop the Croatian Water Management Authorities plans to channel the river in Kopa?ki Rit Nature Park, a unique nature spot on the Croatian-Serbian border in a project that would ignore both EU law and international environmental standards in Croatia. The project would pose a severe threat to unique wetlands and to Europe’s largest and best preserved floodplain forests. Kopa?ki Rit hosts 300 different bird species and would comprise the core zone of the future UNESCO Transboundary Biosphere Reserve ‘Mura-Drava-Danube’, the so called ‘Amazon of Europe’. The organizations fear that if the channeling project is carried out, the free-flowing Danube in Croatia will be transformed into little more than a regulated canal thus stopping the dynamic exchange of water between the river and its floodplain causing the unique wetlands to dry out. This will put under threat Europe’s White-tailed eagle and endangered species such as the Little tern, Black stork and Ship sturgeon. Arno Mohl, WWF International Freshwater Expert said, “If we want to preserve the unique nature of the Danube, we must adapt the ships to the river, and not the river to the ships. We will not accept the destruction of the very heartland of this designated protected area!” He added, “The project will not only ruin a unique natural heritage, but it is in sharp contrast to the ministry efforts for international protection of the area. The protection status will not be worth more than the paper it is written on if this project is approved. We trust that the ministry will finally decide in favour of the preservation of this unique area and stop the project”. The European Commission is already following closely the progress of the project. Mr Mohl said the Environmental Impact study did “not meet Croatian and EU regulations or international environmental standards.”A conservationist from the CSBNP, Tibor Mikuska echoed the criticism of the study saying, “the study does not prove in any way that such heavy technical intervention is needed, nor does it assess in a proper way the environmental impact." The recent Environmental Impact study for the project concludes that the project would not have significant impact on the environment and can be considered acceptable. WWF, Green Action and the Croatian Society for Birds and Nature Protection (CSBNP) submitted a written complaint to a representative of Mirela Holy, Minister for Environment and Nature Protection in Croatia which stated, “this conclusion is a big scandal and is in sharp contrast to the international obligations of Croatia to protect this area and to apply EU law and standards in the region”. WWF is therefore calling all concerned people to take action by signing a petition to the minister, asking her to immediately halt this project and save the unique nature of the Danube River. To sign the petition please visit www.amazon-of-europe.com