At exactly 3 pm, thousands of people jumped into rivers and lakes all over Europe to show their support for the protection of healthy, free-flowing rivers. In Croatia, the main event was held in Varaždin, the old Dravsko pools, where the celebration of the “Amazon of Europe” Day lasted all weekend.

"The biggest Croatian celebrations of the “Amazon of Europe” Day, including the Big Jump, was organized in cooperation with Rafting Club Matis in Varaždin. The event, which lasted two days, included a number of activities, such as a series of educational workshops, two concerts, beach football, water games and much more. We were most impressed with the response of the vast amount of young people along the Drava, who supported the event and clearly expressed their desire to keep the Drava in its natural state, so they can enjoy many more great days like this", said Branka Španiček from WWF Adria.

Known as the “Amazon of Europe”, an area that extends through Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia, the "Amazon of Europe" shall soon become Europe’s largest cross-border protected area, i.e. a five-country UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Three rivers form a 700-kilometer long green belt that connects nearly 1,000,000 hectare of one of the most important European river areas.

In addition Varaždin, local partners organized Big Jumps and accompanying events at four other locations along the Drava river. There, people could enjoy eco-workshops, exhibitions, rowing, environmental films, rafting and games, canoe rides, boat trips and much more.

"By organizing the “Amazon of Europe” Day and the Big Jump we wanted to show the importance of preserving the Drava River. The construction of e.g. hydropower plants or heavy embankment building destroy the river and it loses its natural characteristics, which are so important for people who come to visit from all over the world. In turn, this also affects the development of sustainable tourism in the area”, said Nikola Želimorski from Rafting Club Matis.

"As a true guardians of the river we will continue to work to further improve the good state of the Drava. With the much more varied programme this year, which lasted 2 days, we could address far more people than last year. We offered some traditional activities, such as rafting, but we also had educational offers to inform people about the beauty of our river. We have also included more than 100 children from our region in the workshops, because they are the future guardians of the rivers and their behaviour towards nature will determine their conservation actions", said Janja Škoda and Goran Čižmešija from ZEUS at Donja Dubrava.
 
"The rivers are an irreplaceable “European artery”, which flows across all borders, supporting the life of local communities, helping the local economy and sustaining the natural world. The "Big Jump" is a great tool for people from all over Europe to say that they want their rivers and lakes in a clean and healthy state!”, Španiček added.