The area of ​​the Mura-Drava Regional Park also represents the core of today's Five-State UNESCO Biosphere Reserve "Mura-Drava-Danube". The term "biosphere reserve" does not mean strict protection of the area, but rather the name of an international concept of area management based on the UNESCO program "Man and Biosphere (MAB)".

In 2012, the Croatian-Hungarian Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Mura-Drava-Danube was proclaimed, which was the first step towards the establishment of the biosphere reserve of the same name, which from 2021, in addition to Croatia and Hungary, includes three more countries (Austria, Slovenia and Serbia), and represents the first biosphere reserve established between five countries in the world.