Preserving Sava River Basin Habitats through Transnational Management of Invasive Alien Species

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With a catchment area of over 97,800 km2 and a length of 926 km, flowing through 4 countries, the river Sava is the largest tributary of the Danube by discharge. The river Sava is an important natural ecological corridor, its importance reflected in the size and number of protected areas. River corridors, vital parts of ecological networks, are proved to be pathways of alien invasive species (IAS) expansions, demanding transboundary river-basin wide approach. Invasive plants destroy the natural habitats and the corridor connectivity, demanding increasing input into biodiversity conservation activities, at the same time causing damage also to water management, forestry, agriculture and other key sectors. The SavaParks network of protected areas in the Sava River basin, established in 2015 to jointly respond to nature conservation challenges in the area, has identified the spreading of IAS as one of key challenges, threatening the connectivity in the Sava River basin, mainly due to lack of cooperation of cross-sectoral stakeholders to find harmonised solutions for best practices for habitat preservation and restoration, lack of data to understand the extent of the threat of IAS and consequently lack of efficient common approach to tackling the issue, as well as lack of cross-sectoral, coordinated policies to efficiently tackle the issue. The Sava TIES project will address these challenges and develop a strategic framework for cross-sectoral, transnational management, control and eradication of IAS in the Sava River basin.Through development of tools, mapping and monitoring protocols, capacity building and joint development and pilot implementation of measures, we will reduce habitat fragmentation and improve the connectivity of the transnational ecological corridor. This will be the first ever attempt to tackle this demanding issue on a transnational corridor level in the region, with lessons learned bringing benefits to the wider Danube region and beyond.

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