SAVE THEDRAVA RIVER, CROATIA Framework Directive. Natura 2000andtheobjectives oftheWater of freshwater habitats protected under contradict boththeconservation objectives impacts thatalready exist andtherefore plants would exacerbatethenegative construction ofadditionalhydropower migration routes andtrapsediments. The habitat andsurvival. They also block fish species thatdependonthemfor their and, asaconsequence, threaten the fragment rivers, destroy wetlands hydropower plants. Hydropower dams already saturated withmore than25,000 of hydropower. Europe’s rivers are serious threats from thedevelopment leaving nature dangerously exposed to enforcement ofour nature laws is Major gaps intheimplementationand European biodiversity isinfreefall. wildlife andhabitatsacross Europe, suchasthe“Amazon ofEurope” –theDrava River! The #NatureAlert Countdown ison!But there is still timetotakeactionsave threatened laws –theBirds &HabitatsDirectives to improve theimplementation and enforcement oftheEU’s world-leading nature Vella totakedecisive actioninhis remaining timeasEUEnvironment Commissioner European Policythe EarthEurope andWWF call onCommissioner Karmenu Office BirdLife Europe &CentralAsia, EEB (European Environmental Bureau), Friends of the EUBirds&HabitatsDirectives Hydropower dams:threatstotheimplementationandenforcementof WILL YOU LEAVE A LASTINGLEGACY FORNATURE? 1 .

©Goran Šafarek #NatureAlert Contact: SabineLeemans-SeniorBiodiversity Policy Officer, EU WWF 1 site andtheiconicspecies andhabitats itprotects. EU Birds andHabitatsDirectives. impacttheNatura2000 Itsconstructionwill significantly The development ofahydropower plant withinaprotected Natura2000site goes against the this site hosts theriver’s very last breeding pairsofLittleternsinCroatia. an importanthabitatfor Black storks, White-tailed eagles, Sandmartins, andStarlet. Notably, many gravel bars, steepbanks, side arms andalluvial forests. Withitsfloodplains, Drava is the only free flowing partoftheriver, where theDrava remains in its most natural state–with location oftheproposed hydropower plants falls withinaprotected Natura2000site. This is plants, Molve 1 andMolve 2in Koprivnica-križevci County bordering withHungary. The In Croatia, theDrava River is currently threatened by plans todevelop two more hydropower proposed tobetheworld’s five-country UNESCO Transboundary first Biosphere Reserve. important riverine areas –theso-called “Amazon ofEurope”. TheMura-Drava-Danube is and MuraRivers, andrelated sections oftheDanube, are amongEurope’s mostecologically Spanning Austria, Croatia, Hungary, SerbiaandSlovenia, thelower courses oftheDrava

January 2019, ‘Joint Policy Brief ontheImplementation andEnforcement oftheBirds &HabitatsDirectives’ Please support ourcallfortheEuropeanCommissiontoclosely monitorthePlease support situation inThrace andbring anyunresolved infringement cases to Will you, CommissionerVella, leavealastinglegacyfornature? The #NatureAlert countdownison!The #NatureAlert the European Court ofJustice.the EuropeanCourt information this document contains. mentioned above. Thefundercannot beheld responsible for any usewhichmay bemade ofthe responsibility oftheauthors andcannot beregarded as reflecting theposition ofthe funders and theMAVA Foundation for thispublication. Thecontentsofthisdocument are thesole assistance oftheEuropeanThe authors gratefullyacknowledge Commission thefinancial [email protected]

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