The Ganga River is a symbol of faith, heritage and civilization. Its basin, with a 1.09 million km2 area and over 600 million people, generates approximately 40% of India’s GDP. Traversing over 2,500 km, the Ganga provides an extensive range of ecosystem services to riverine communities; water for cities and agriculture; fish production; recreational uses; and important sites for religious purposes to name a few.

Five Countries (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia andSlovenia) and their ministries responsible for environment and nature conservation signed a joint declaration to establish the Transboundary UNESCO Biosphere Reserve "Mura-Drava-Danube".