Big Jump is a European initiative for the revival of harmony between humans and the natural environment. In more than 500 places in Europe, thousands of people jump into rivers and lakes together to draw attention to our nurturing waters. At the first official Big Jump event (Big Jump Europe) in 2005 we managed to persuade more the 250 000 people who jumped into 31 rivers of 22 countries at the same time.

The waters of Hungary were also celebrated with this special event; Tiszatarján and Nagykörű were pioneers in organising the Big Jump in the previous years. This year, however, WWF Hungary not only intends to revive the festival of jumping into water but also to extend it.

“Hungary is rich in rivers and wetlands, and this treasure deserves attention on both national and international scale. This year we are launching a national challenge for all communities fo Hungary, to intensify the message of BIG JUMP and to make sure, that the importance of ,fresh waters and the natural values connected to water.” – said Katalin Sipos, director of WWF Hungary.

WWF is posting an invitation for the municipalities and communities of Hungary, urging them to organise their own Big Jump on 12 July 2015. We will launch a competition among the registerng municipalities and communities to find out where Big Jump makes the largest wave. Those municipalities that do not have a waterfront can join other municipalities for a common big splash.

WWF Hungary’s own Big Jump is going to take place on the free beach of Dunabogdány supported by of Coca-Cola Company which is committed to the rehabilitation of the wetlands as well as the sustainable water consumption. Within the framework of a 7-year long cooperation, Coca-Cola Company and WWF are working on the restoration of the life-giving, vital wetlands and flood plains along the Danube and its tributaries in six countries of the region, including Hungary. The goal is to restore 12 million m3 water retention capacity by 2020.

“Besides the large-scale rehabilitation of regional wetlands, we are part of a similarly unique initiative in the framework of which we are working to create a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, along the Danube, the Drava and the Mura. The reserve stretching across Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia could be the largest European wetland that is given a conservation status. The first steps of the initiative have already been taken; in Croatia and Hungary the concerned areas of the Drava and the Danube have already gained the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve title.” – said Tamás Gruber, wetlands programme manager of WWF Hungary.

In the area of the reserve there are several opportunities to splash into water, so the organisers hope that many people will apply from this area.

“Active responsibility must extend to cross-border cooperations as well. We would like to draw attention to these activities on the occasion of the Big Jump.” – added the programme manager.

Source: http://wwf.hu/en/news_/1/let-s-jump-together-for-the-living-rivers-wwf-big-jump-2015