Save the Blue Heart of Europe - A campaign for the protection of Balkan Rivers
Una Wild River National Park – Feasibility Study
This multidisciplinary feasibility study evaluates the potential to establish a transboundary Wild River National Park along the Una River and its 15 tributaries, shared between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia — one of Europe's last intact, free-flowing karst river systems. Covering 657 kilometres of waterways and 351 km² of shared natural heritage, the proposed park would protect exceptional biodiversity including one of Europe's last large self-sustaining populations of the Danube salmon (Hucho hucho), alongside the European otter, the olm, and over 450 recorded species. The study assesses ecological, legal, financial, and socio-political feasibility, proposes a five-zone management concept and a four-level transboundary governance model, and concludes that the Una Wild River National Park is ecologically justified, legally feasible, financially viable, and socially supported. It presents a pioneering transboundary model for river protection in Southeast Europe, following the precedent set by the Vjosa Wild River National Park in Albania.