Lonjsko Polje ( English: ''Lonja Field'') is the largest protected

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

in both

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and the entire Danube basin. It covers an area of , extending along the river

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

from the areas east of Sisak, the lower course of the river

Lonja The Lonja is a river in central Croatia, a left tributary of the Sava. It is long and its basin covers an area of . The Lonja rises in the Kalnik mountain in northern Croatia, southeast of Novi Marof, at . It flows westward until turning south ...

for which it is named, to the areas west of

Nova Gradiška Nova Gradiška is a town located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,229 (2011). It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The first word in the name means ''New'', and there' ...

, along the course of the river Veliki Strug. The area of Lonjsko Polje is designated a

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

(''park prirode''), a kind of

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in Croatia. The institution was established in 1998, and it is based in the village Krapje in the municipality of Jasenovac. According to the criteria of the Birds Directive of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, the park is an important habitat for

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s (

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

- IBA).

References

External links

Lonjsko Polje website
Nature parks of Croatia Ramsar sites in Croatia Protected areas of Sisak-Moslavina County Landforms of Sisak-Moslavina County {{Europe-protected-area-stub

See also

References

External links