Title: Editorial Mura-Drava-Danube biosphere reserve: a long way from the original idea to the designation of the world's first 5-country biosphere reserve

Authors: Günter Köck; Gerhard Schwach; Arno Mohl

Addresses: Austrian MAB National Committee, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz, 2, 1010, Vienna, Austria; Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research (ÖAW-IGF), Innsbruck, Austria ' Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Regions and Tourism, Marxergasse, 2, 1030, Vienna, Austria ' World Wide Fund for Nature, Ottakringer Straße, 114-116, 1160, Vienna, Austria

Abstract: The UNESCO '5-country biosphere reserve Mura-Drava-Danube (TBR MDD)', recognised by UNESCO in September 2021, connects Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia with their individual biosphere reserves (BRs) and 13 major protected areas along the three rivers Mura, Drava and Danube. It is with a length of 700 km and a size of 930,000 hectares Europe's largest coherent river protected area. This article describes the history of the development of the TBR MDD, also known as 'Amazon of Europe', from the first idea in the early 1990s to the designation of the world's first transboundary BR consisting of five countries in 2021. In addition, the authors identified and discussed some factors which they believe have had a decisive influence on the emergence of TBR MDD.

Keywords: Mura-Drava-Danube biosphere reserve; UNESCO; transboundary biosphere reserves; 5-country biosphere reserve; history; river system.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESD.2022.123948

International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 2022 Vol.21 No.3, pp.253 - 269

Received: 09 Aug 2021
Accepted: 21 Sep 2021
Published online: 05 Jul 2022 *

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