Neretva Delta
Neretva Delta is the river delta of the Neretva, a river that flows through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and empties in the Adriatic Sea. The delta is a unique landscape in southern Croatia, and a wetland that is listed under the Ramsar Convention as internationally important, as the wetland extends into the Hutovo Blato in Herzegovina.
| Neretva Delta | |
|---|---|
Neretva Delta, near the estuary, Lower Neretva | |
Neretva Delta Neretva Delta (Dinaric Alps) | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | |
• coordinates | 43.01971°N 17.44523°E |
| Designations | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Neretva River Delta |
| Designated | 18 January 1993 |
| Reference no. | 585 |
The total alluvial area of the delta is estimated at around 19,000 ha (73 sq mi), while today the delta takes up roughly 11,490 ha (44.4 sq mi).
A total of 1,620 ha (6.3 sq mi) of the delta are designated protected areas:
- ornithological reserves: Prud, Orepak, Podgredom
- ornithological and ichthyological reserve at the river mouth
- protected landscape: lake Modro oko
An additional 1200 ha of nature in the delta is not protected. In 2003, the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning organized a public discussion about the proposal to make the delta a nature park. In 2007, the experts from the State Institute for Nature Protection made another formal proposal for the Neretva Delta to become a nature park. A public discussion process was started but quickly terminated by the Ministry of Culture, allegedly because of protests from the local government.