From the creative pen of author and photographer Goran Šafarek, the new book about the Drava River – Drava jučer, danas, sutra (The Drava River – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) – summarizes most relevant information about the river and illustrates them with beautiful pictures. It provides valuable knowledge about the physical characteristics of the river, social and cultural importance, species and habitats, threats and details on the future of the riverine landscape in the light of restoration efforts that are currently being undertaken on the Drava River.

There are many beautiful pictures of the Drava River in the book

Being produced within the DRAVA LIFE project, the book will be shared with stakeholders on events that will be held in the following years and will be available in selected libraries along the Drava River.

Drava – jučer, danas, sutra

The book was published within the DRAVA LIFE project

On World Water Day 2022, we organized vegetation clearing action on a gravel island on Šoderica Lake near Koprivnica to prepare it for the common tern nesting season. Last year, the island was home to 70 bird pairs. This year we are hoping for a few more.

Fifteen people joined the action, including experts from the Institute for Ornithology in Zagreb, Public Institution for Management of Protected Natural Areas in Koprivnica-Križevci County, Administrative Department for Spatial Planning, Construction, Environment and Nature Protection of Koprivnica-Križevci County, Association of Sport Fishing Clubs Koprivnica, IGMA Ltd., WWF Austria, and WWF Adria. In addition, we were joined by journalists from Nova TV and a cinematographer from Filmofil, who recorded the whole event.

The main goal of the action was the removal of all woody vegetation and tall grass to ensure good nesting conditions for common terns. They usually nest on gravel islands in rivers, for instance on the Drava River, but human activity is causing the disappearance of those habitats, which make islands like the one we visited for World Water Day important for the preservation of the common tern population in Croatia.

In the following years, we will repeat the action if there will be a need. Until then, we are monitoring common terns on the island and will provide updates on our social media channels.

On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, the 4th Session of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee, of the DRAVA LIFE project, was held via videoconference. The Session was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

Apart from the advisory expert committee formed for project environmental and nature evaluation, the Session was attended also by the project holder (Hrvatske vode), the authorized Designers for the preparation of Study documentation in the EIA procedure, and some of the project partners (Zeleni Osijek, WWF Adria).

It was concluded at the Session that the repeated public hearing was successfully conducted, that the quorum of the members of the advisory expert committee was achieved, and that all preconditions for making the final Opinion of the Committee and ending the EIA procedure were met.

According to the agreed suggestions, corrections, and remarks of the advisory expert committee, the authorized Designers for project Study documentation, and the project holder, the final opinion was that the intended intervention, DRAVA LIFE – integrated river management, is acceptable for the environment and ecological network. Opinion proposes environmental protection measures, mitigation measures on the conservation objectives and integrity of the ecological network area, and the environmental monitoring program. A period of three days has been given to the authorized Designers and other absent Commission members to comment on the Opinion, after which it will become formal.

This is encouraging and reassuring news for our project, which allows us to continue with the planned “in situ” project activities at the revitalization locations, thus taking a step closer to the realization of the project.