Hutovo Blato Nature Park, Bosnia's only and one of the most important bird reserves in Europe, is about to become a significant tourist attraction within the 'Explore Cross-border Adriatic Biodiversity - EXChAngE' cross-border project, implemented jointly by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro.

The EXChAngE project aims to develop a new tourist product – a blue pass, which will enable visits to new thematic routes including: Dubrovnik and aquarium (Croatia), Kotor and aquarium Boka (Montenegro), Mostar’s Old Bridge and Neretva river, and Hutovo Blato Aqua Path – all grouped under new cross border tourism product labelled as the EXChAngE pack.

For this purpose, Bosnia’s nature park will receive a 212,000 Euro worth grant through the European Union’s IPA II fund and within the Interreg IPA cross-border cooperation between the three countries.

“I expect this project to result in further improvement of the offer and, of course, sustainable development and survival of this world-renowned, unique marshland area,” said nature park general manager, Nikola Zovko.

The project’s total value is estimated at 1.7 million Euro, including 1.4 million Euro grant secured through EU IPA II funds.

Hutovo Blato was put on the list of BirdLife International’s Important Bird Areas. It is the largest reserve of its kind in the region, in terms of both size and diversity, and is home to over 240 types of migratory birds and dozens that make their permanent home in the sub-Mediterranean wetlands surrounding Deransko Lake.

In the migration season, tens of thousands of birds fill the lake and its surroundings.