The border situation has prevented several floodplain segments of the Green Belt from major impacts and preserved them as the most valuable wetlands of Central Europe.
The Mura - Drava course along the borders of Austria, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia is the longest river section without big barrages and power plants. It is an intact floodplain with old alluvial forests. Slovenia's current plans to construct six hydroelectric power plants along the river Mura would destroy these ecosystems.
Images: 1,2: Mura river, Austria/ Slovenia, David Reeder, Stanka Desnik, 3,4: river dam and its construction, BUND Thuringia