Stakeholders are important part of, not just Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve, but all protected areas. Sometimes, due to main point of interest, stakeholders can have different opinions and aims for protected area leading to potential conflicts among them. This is especially true for densely populated agricultural landscapes adjacent to areas of high biodiversity such as riparian forests in Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve. Even though all stakeholders recognize forests as important, confusion in interpretation and implementation of different policies can arise.

Conducting the REFOCuS project, consultation with key stakeholders have been conducted in two stakeholder workshops. These workshops provided important insights into five most important issues for forests within the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve.

These issues are decline of underground water, pest and diseases, availability of native forest reproductive material, forest management plans and natural regeneration.

Intensity of each stated issue regarding forest management and conservation in the Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve by country:

You can find out more about recommendations for addressing these issues in REFOCuS book Perspectives for forest and conservation management in riparian forests.