Background The Lonjsko Polje Nature Park is situated in the alluvial plain of the Sava River, in the Posavina region, between the cities of Sisak and Stara Gradiška, in central Croatia. It is the largest maintained inundation area in the Danube river catchment, giving it a distinctive landscape and ecological systems. The park has been identified by IUCN - the World Conservation Union - as a showcase of Best Practices of Conservation Planning and is home to seven important habitats and 89 species mentioned in the EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). The park is also a key component of the flood control system formed by the Sava River basin, affecting Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro. The project builds on experience with stakeholder involvement obtained in a previous LIFE project (LIFE00 TCY/CRO/076), which developed the institutional capacity of the Park Services and increased the awareness of local people and visitors to the importance of the park. Objectives The IBM project aimed to protect the biological and landscape diversity of the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park by maintaining traditional land-use and improving stakeholder awareness on issues affecting the park and its conservation needs. The project aimed to develop consultative processes throughout the river basin involving relevant stakeholders. It planned thus to develop a Park Management Plan to ensure that the conservation requirements of the wetlands are properly managed. An effective flood-control system would also be developed for the whole basin. In tandem with the biological and ecological objectives, it intended to implement actions to improve benefits for local people, develop a sustainable visitor management system, further raise public awareness about the values of the park and train rangers in communication and ecological monitoring. Results The Croatian IBM project successfully improved the long-term conservation prospects for the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park and associated flood plains by achieving agreement of an official Management Plan for the park and the establishment of a Programme for Integrated River-Basin Management in Central Posavina. Work to elaborate the park’s Management Plan started with a study of the park’s unique landscape from maps and aerial images, followed by workshops on both habitat management and field mapping. A manual on field mapping and habitat management was written and the legal process to create the management plan started. The final plan was approved by the Croatian government on 15 December 2008. To develop the integrated river basin management programme the project established a Central Posavina Stakeholders’ Committee and led a stakeholder visit on flood control and integrated river basin management to the Netherlands. Workshops were organised on Ramsar’s Integrated River Basin Management Guidelines and on establishing a joint monitoring system and database. To promote the maintenance of traditional land-use, the project organised practical activities with local people and major land-users, restored war-affected land to traditional use and published an awareness-raising book on traditional land-use in the Central Posavina region. The project team wrote a visitor management plan, based on both the region’s existing Tourism Masterplan and the conclusions of a workshop on establishing a visitor management system. Associated activities included two educational events for local people, the design and build of biking and walking trails with a complementary guidebook, and training events for park staff and rangers and the creation of a Junior Ranger Programme. Supported by this LIFE project, the Croatian government applied in February 2008 to UNESCO for the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park to become a World Heritage site for cultural land. The project has had a high demonstration value for other nature parks in Croatia and can act as a good example for how to develop similar management plans in other regions. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).