box 71. yellow sea fan (eunicella cavolini) · productive forests have been separated under...

871.5. AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROTECTION OF BIOLOGICAL AND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY OF CROATIA

pig of Turopolje). Breeders of individual breeds unite intoassociations of breeders through which they seek toimplement the protection programmes.

Protection of habitatsApart from the protection provided within protected areas itis necessary to protect by law certain threatened or raretypes of habitats such as, for example, moors, silty andsandy coasts, reeds, some types of meadows, etc. whichmeans that such habitats would be protected whereverrecorded. The present Nature Protection Act has notforeseen such a category, which is to be taken into accountwhen preparing the new draft law.

Protection of habitats in economically exploited areasmay be improved by implementing specific natureprotection guidelines on the part of departments dealingwith agriculture, forestry, water management, physicalplanning, etc. It is also very important to encourage thepreservation and, if possible, the restoration or evengeneration of small new diverse biotopes that are of localimportance and therefore protected primarily at the municipallevel. These biotopes form a network that the denser and themore interconnected it is, the higher stability and ecologicalbalance of the overall biological diversity it may ensure.

• Order: Gorgonaceae• Family: Gorgoniidae• Croatian name: morsko stabalce, bradavi~asta ro`nja~a• IUCN: 1 (mostly average settlements, the state could, at

least locally, become serious in the future)• Protection in Croatia: not protected

Yellow sea fan is one of the most frequent species of hornycorals in the Adriatic, particularly significant in coralogenicbiocenosis of the deep craggy seabed and in the biocenosisof semi-dark caves. Its presence is the indication of a cleansea and the marked dynamics of seabed currents. Individuallyrichly branched out and flattened colonies of yellow sea fancan reach more than 50 cm of height. By their wider sidethey are turned towards permanent sea currents, thuscollecting to the highest extent possible the organic detritusand planktons for food. Coral trees and branches are oftenovergrown by other organisms, particularly by coralParalcyonium corralloides, and it is here that pouch sacs with

squid eggs and spawn of cartilaginous fish may be found.Well-developed settlements of yellow sea fan in theAdriatic may be find first of all on steep craggy slopes andvertical rocks, rarely in submarine caves too. In placesvisited constantly by autonomous divers the signs ofdevastation of settlements have been recently discovered.Since yellow sea fan can adapt well to living conditions inaquariums, they are brought out by diving for the purposeof aquarium keeping or as a souvenir although without anygreater market value. As not a single species of genusEunicella is protected in this country there is a danger ofthe local disappearing of this most beautiful ornament ofour submarine rocks and cliffs.

D. Zavodnik

Map 24. Map of yellow sea fan distribution(according to data by D. Zavodnik)

Box 71. Yellow sea fan (Eunicella cavolini)

Figure 128. Yellowsea fan, undersea ofElba island(photo by A. Jaklin)

Box 72. Taxa protection deficiencies

• insufficient legislation• incomplete inventories of protected taxa that require

revision• missing data on the composition of species and

invertebrate threats• violation of regulations, poor control and almost no

sanctions• shortage of funds for implementation of action plans for

individual taxa and• lack of incentive measures for breeding of threatened

indigenous taxa of domesticated plants and animals.

88 PART 1.: AN OVERVIEW OF THE STATE OF BIOLOGICAL AND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY IN CROATIA

EX-SITU PROTECTIONThe ex-situ protection means the preservation ofcomponents of biological diversity outside their naturalhabitats. Such measures are especially important for very rareand threatened species on the verge of extinction. It istherefore important that they or their genes are preserved or,in case of animals, even multiplied for the purpose of re-settling them into their natural habitats. Plant genes may bepreserved in form of seeds or tissue cultures, and animalgenes in the so-called genetic libraries where deep frozengenomes are stored. Another method is to keep and growcertain plant and animal species. In Croatia such geneticmaterial is chiefly kept in botanical gardens (Fig. 129).

The preservation of genofunds of individual types offorest tress and natural components is carried out by variousex situ methods that include provenance experiments,offspring tests, clonal seed plantations, cloning tests andliving archives. In this way the genofund of the followingspecies is kept: common oak, European larch, Weymouthpine, green Douglas fir, common pine, black pine, black alderand small-leaf lime. In the area of the “Hrvatske {ume” p.o.Zagreb certain approved seeding components have beenseparated (4,784 hectares) intended for the production ofseed required for production of seedlings. Since that theycannot satisfy the needs always and for all species, individualproductive forests have been separated under specific criteriaand registered as selected seed sites with the total surfacearea of 13,826 hectares. The approved and selected seedcomponents include the following species: common oak,durmast oak, common ash, black alder, sweet chestnut, lime,birch, beech, common hornbeam, common spruce, larch,Weymouth pine, green Douglas fir, black pine, Scots pine,common fir, Aleppo pine, Calabrian pine, maritime pine,Dalmatian black pine, holm oak and pubescent oak. Theforestry experts in the field of genetics are involved in theproject of conservation of genetic resources of Europeanforests (EUFORGEN) that includes the network research ofblack poplar, noble hard broad-leaved trees, social broad-leaved trees (common oak, durmast oak, common beech)and Mediterranean oaks (holm oak and pubescent oak).

In the organization of the Faculty of Agriculture inZagreb the project of the establishment of the CroatianBank of Plant Genes is in preparation and the project of theCroatian Bank of Domestic Animal Genes is completed.Zoological gardens play worldwide an important role in ex-situ preservation of rare animal species. The zoological gardenin Zagreb has recently been included into the European

Endangered Species Programme (EEP) which is co-ordinating the breeding of certain threatened species inindividual zoological gardens with the assistance of theInternational Species Information System (ISIS). Althoughpresently this includes only two non-indigenous species –the snow leopard and the maned wolf, the inclusion in thisproject is very important for the protection of biologicaldiversity on the global scale. Unfortunately, nothing of thekind exists for threatened and endemic animals in Croatia.

For the purpose of protecting the most threatenedindigenous sorts of cultivated plants and breeds of domesticanimals incentive measures by the state are indispensable inorder to ensure breeding of such taxa by the greatestpossible number of farmers under the professional andscientific control.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKThere are several types of institutions dealing with biologicaldiversity. Some of them collect data and identify thecomposition of biological diversity in a certain area, theothers determine rules of behaviour from the legislativeaspect, while some regulate professionally the use of naturalresources and control the preservation of biological diversityand the use of natural resources. From educational aspect alllevels of education are to be counted herein, with a specialemphasis on high education in the field of natural sciences(fundamental and applied), economy, law and building. Non-institutional forms of associating (NGOs) as the widestform of influence of population on preservation of biologicaldiversity are necessarily linked with co-operation and criticalreview of results achieved by above mentioned institutions,but are also present as potentially the widest active power inpractical implementation of protection.

2

1

Figure 129/1,2.Botanical garden of theDepartment of Botany(Faculty of Science) inZagreb, founded in1889, contains about10,000 species ofvascular plants on thearea of 4.7 ha(photo by D. Mihelj)


A considerable part of institutions associated withconservation of biological and landscape diversity make anintegral part of the government structure or are directlyfunded by the national budget. Similarly, the majority ofmeasures undertaken in the space are directly or indirectlyfinanced from the national budget too. This is potentiallygood, because it facilitates an integral approach to protectionwith clearly structured control mechanisms. However, thesituation in practice is far from being satisfactory. Thereason lies in the inefficient structure of departments(organization, staff, funds) directly responsible for thesegment of protection, but also in the inadequate educationof the population (insufficiently organized in the context oflocal administration and NGOs). At the level of legislationand policy-making the segment of protection of biologicaland landscape diversity is still only of a declarative nature,lacking the actual willingness to invest sufficiently and toimplement the logic of sustainable development. At theeducational level the exchange of knowledge amongeducational institutions of Croatia is not satisfactory, andneither is the level of exchange of specific knowledge withforeign institutions.

The following is a presentation of institutions coveringthe major part of activities concerning the protection ofbiological and landscape diversity in Croatia.

State institutions

Institutions for protection of biologicaldiversityThe system of legislative power includes first of all theCroatian Parliament with committees for individualproblem areas. The system of executive authorities consistsof the Government of the Republic of Croatia andindividual sectoral government bodies. The main bodyresponsible for conservation and utilization of biological and

landscape diversity is the Ministry of EnvironmentalProtection and Physical Planning, accompanied partly bysome other ministries and government organizations.

In the present situation the Ministry of EnvironmentalProtection and Physical Planning can hardly satisfy theactual needs in the field of protection. The comparison offunds and the number of employees in such ministries oftransition countries shows that Central-European countriesallocate more funds and have more staff involved inprotection activities.

Public institutions for the management of speciallyprotected parts of nature still employ only a small numberof professionally qualified staff. The orientation towardsexploitation of these nature parts for tourist purposes isunfortunately constantly repressing efforts of actualprotection.

At the county level this problem area lies within thecompetence of offices for physical planning, housing andpublic utility services, building and environmentalprotection. Their activities are frequently strongly affectedby technical sciences because of the personnel professionalstructure which is, consequently, the reason for the lack ofunderstanding and striving for the actually efficientpreservation of biological diversity. The Ministry of Interiorcovers the area of the protection of biological diversityinsufficiently and is not adequately informed about thisproblem area which results in its being insufficientlyinvolved in cases of threatening parts of nature protected bylaw. The role of the public and NGOs in the practicalprotection and control has grown in recent years as a resultof endeavours to change the value-oriented judgement infavour of the so-called “unprofitable” parts of nature byeducation, individual campaigns and permanent presence ofsustainable development problems in mass media.

The situation of inspection departments in the field ofenvironmental protection is particularly difficult. Teams withtoo few people and poorly developed local network andsupport is today certainly not able to gather in timesufficient information on violation of legal provisions

Name of institution Activity

Faculty of Science, Zagreb scientific and educational activities, micro-organisms, botany, zoology, invertebrates, vertebrates, ecology, biological diversity, geology

Faculty of Philosophy in Split, Department of Natural Sciences scientific and educational activities, botany, invertebrates

Teacher Training College, Department of Ecology, Osijek scientific and educational activities, invertebrates

Faculty of Forestry scientific and educational activities in the field of forestry and hunting

Faculty of Agriculture scientific and educational activities in the field of agriculture, genetic diversity of domesticated species

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagreb scientific and educational activities, research and protection of carnivores

Faculty of Medicine, Zagreb educational activities

Ru|er Bo{kovi} Institute, Zagreb scientific and research activities, fungi, micro-organisms, molecular genetic

Ru|er Bo{kovi} Institute, Marine Research Centre, Rovinj scientific and research activities, benthos communities

Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Dubrovnik scientific and research activities, sea fishing, benthos communities and plankton

Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Split scientific and research activities, sea fishing, benthos communities

Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences, scientific and research activities related to birds and their habitatsInstitute for Ornithology, Zagreb

Forestry Institute, Jastrebarsko scientific and research activities in forestry

National Meteorological and Hydrological Service collection of data on climate

Hydrological Institute, Zagreb scientific and research activities – inland waters

Geological Institute, Zagreb geology, hydrology

College of Biochemical Engineering scientific and research activities – micro-organisms

Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb educational, scientific and research activities, keeping and processing of collections, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, geology, mineralogy

Table 28. Scientificinstitutions significantfor study of biologicaland landscapediversity


concerning nature protection. The possibility to react toinformation provided by the population (individuals, NGOs)is still not developed enough. It is particularly necessary towork intensively on development of inspection departmentsin counties.

Institutions for biological diversitystudying and documentingIn Croatia the greatest portion of information on biologicaldiversity is collected by institutions of high education,museums and institutes. University collections, andespecially collections in museums of natural sciences are themain places for documenting biological diversity of Croatia(Box 73 and 74, Fig. 130).

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and PhysicalPlanning is involved in collecting the knowledge necessaryfor an efficient protection of biological diversity by means ofstudies ordered. However, since the Ministry does not haveall the required data available, it is necessary to develop aspecial structural unit to deal with data collecting andprocessing, including the co-ordination of their collecting.Such a team would have a task of developing expert andresearch projects indispensable for protection activities, ofprocessing expert and scientific data into a form acceptablefor political decision-making levels, of preparing summariesacceptable for promotional activities and presentation on theinternational scale. At the same time the team would be alink to NGOs in terms of disseminating data, data collectionand co-ordination of activities.

Non-governmental organizations

Basic informationThe development of public awareness of importance andpreservation of nature in the Republic of Croatia is evidentfrom increasingly frequent associations of citizens in theirconcern for nature and environment at various levels, withthe aim to solve some general and specific problems.Beginning in the late 80s, there is now an ever-growingpublic interest in the protection of nature, reflected in apowerful influence of such non-governmental organizationson further popularization and creation of sensitivity for thisproblem area. By identifying the problems and investigatingthe needs and possible solutions at the local or a broader

level, they encourage the citizens to join them and work forthe common good.

The first initiatives for the protection of environmentand space in Croatia appeared at the beginning of thiscentury through actions for the protection of natural andcultural values. Beside the Croatian Society for NaturalSciences (CSNS) that has been publishing the journalentitled “The Nature” since 1911, a professional associationof biologists – ecologists called Croatian Ecological Society(CES), including the Croatian Biological Society (CBS), isparticularly involved and permanently active inpopularization of nature protection. In the 70s and 80sseveral groups appeared consisting predominantly of expertsand scientists concerned about environmental pollution. Atthe time of establishing the Croatian Association of theGreens (1990) about sixty groups were active in the field ofnature and environment protection.

There are presently about 200 groups in Croatiadealing with the protection of nature and environment, ofwhich one third is registered in Zagreb (Tab. 29). Someorganizations with a very wide field of activities havebranches all over Croatia, such as “Our BeautifulHomeland” Movement of Nature Friends and YoungNature Guards of the Croatian Society of Natural Sciences.In their activities about 1/3 of non-governmentalorganizations in the field of nature and environmentprotection are giving top priority to protection of biologicaldiversity. However, the majority of non-governmentalorganizations dealing with biological diversity are“biological” by their character, or rather professionalorganizations based on scientific foundations (biology,forestry, agriculture, etc.). Members and heads of projects inthese organizations are predominantly scientists. Apart fromprofessional organizations, biological diversity is the field ofinterest of various ecological societies and alpine clubs,including the Scouts Association. Activities of organizationsinvolved in the protection of biological and landscapediversity are most often of local nature. In most cases theseare activities for the protection of individual natural habitats

Box 73. Most significant collections inthe field of natural sciences

HERBARIUMS• Herbarium Croaticum, the Department of Botany

Faculty of Science, Zagreb• Faculty of Forestry, Zagreb• Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb• Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb• Nature and Sea Institute, Makarska

VERTEBRATE COLLECTIONS• Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb• Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science in Zagreb• Institute for Ornithology, Croatian Academy of Arts and

Sciences, Zagreb• Department for Quaternary Paleontology, Zagreb• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagreb• Natural History Museum, Rijeka (fish)• Natural History Museum, Split (birds)• Natural History Museum, Dubrovnik (birds)• National Museum, Zadar (birds)

INVERTEBRATE COLLECTIONS• Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb• Natural History Museum in Vara`din, Koprivnica and

Rijeka• Teaching Training College, Osijek• Mountain and Sea Institute, Makarska

Figure 130.HerbariumCroaticum (ZA) ofthe Department ofBotany (Faculty of Science, Zagreb)founded in 1880 isthe oldest herbariumin Croatia and withits about 200,000specimens the greatesttoo(photo by S. D. Jelaska)

Figure 131. Greenforum – a meeting ofnon-governmentalorganizations heldin December 1998under participationof the MEPPP(photo by T. Novakovi})


in a devastated area or activities for preservation of individualplant and animal species. Some non-governmentalorganizations were founded with the objective to protectcertain species and preserve their genetic diversity – these aremainly non-governmental organizations dealing with theprotection of autochthonous breeds (Association ofBreeders of the Horse of Posavina, Association of Breedersof Istrian Cattle).

Legal frameworkThe Associations Act came into force in July 1997.According to this Act associations may be registered at thelocal or national level depending on the area in which theyoperate.

On the basis of the Decision on Criteria forIdentification of Associations with Activities of Interest forthe Republic of Croatia and on Financial Support toAssociations from the Government Budget, associationswhose activities bring about conservation of nature andhuman environment are considered to perform activities ofinterest for the Republic of Croatia and may be grantedfinancial support from the government budget.

In 1998 the Republic of Croatia GovernmentCommission for Associations and the Republic of CroatiaGovernment Office for Associations were set up.

Co-operation of non-governmentalorganizations with government bodies andlocal government and self-government unitsThe co-operation between non-governmental organizationsand government bodies and local government and self-government units takes place through various forms, such asthe celebrations of certain dates related to environmentalprotection, co-operation in publishing, providing space forwork, securing finance for individual concrete projects,involving representatives of organizations in activities ofindividual government bodies, information exchange, etc. Inthe field of the protection of biological and landscapediversity professional organizations often co-operate withrelevant government bodies (MEPPP, certain ministries). Ingeneral, these organizations co-operate more closely withrelevant local government and self-government bodies thanwith those at the state level.

At present the co-operation between non-governmentalorganizations and government bodies and local governmentand self-government units in the field of the protection ofbiological and landscape diversity in Croatia is not an explicitlegal obligation. Public participation is provided through theprocess of public hearing and evaluation of environmentalimpact studies related to activities which requireenvironmental impact assessment, as well as in the procedureof making decisions and adopting plans, programmes andcertain administrative documents.

Box 74. Herbarium collections inCroatia entered in the world collection

list “Index Herbariorum”

• Herbarium Croaticum (ZA) of the Department ofBotany at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb,founded in 1880, is the oldest herbarium in Croatia. It isestimated to consist of about 180,000 specimens, whichmakes it the largest in Croatia. It containsrepresentatives of 150 families and 1,340 genera. Thespecimens originate mostly from the area of Croatia andthe Balkan peninsula. The major part of the holdingsincludes collections of Croatian famous botanists: A.Hara~i} (8,000 leaves), D. Hirc (12,000 leaves), S.Horvati} (15,000 leaves), F. Ku{an, Lj. Rossi (30,000leaves), J. C. Schlosser (15,000 leaves), Lj. F. Vukotinovi}(10,000 leaves) and others. A special department, theso-called General Herbarium, contains about 100,000specimens from all over the world. The major part offungi and mosses may be found in the ZAHO and algaein the ADRZ (Figure 130).

• Herbarium of Ivo and Marija Horvat (ZAHO) islocated in the Botanical garden in Zagreb. It wasfounded in 1918 and consists of about 78,000specimens. In terms of space the plants representedcome from the Balkan peninsula, Poland, Norway,Switzerland and Finland. The herbarium contains mainlyhigher plants, but also the collections of fungi andmosses from the Herbarium Croaticum (ZA). Thisherbarium belonged originally to Professor I. Horvat,but is at present considered a part of the ZA herbariumand was moved to the current location in 1998 fromCroatian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Herbarium Adriaticum (ADRZ) with the MarineResearch Centre of the Ru|er Bo{kovi} Institute inZagreb. The herbarium was founded in 1966 andconsists of about 20,470 specimens. In terms of areathe plants represented originate from the Adriaticislands and the Balkan peninsula and the algae from theAdriatic Sea.

• Herbarium in Rovinj (RI) with the Marine ResearchCentre of the Ru|er Bo{kovi} Institute. The herbariumwas founded in 1900 and contains about 21,000specimens. In terms of area it represents the northernAdriatic area and in terms of contents, the marine flora.The herbarium was destroyed in 1943 and laterrenewed.

• Herbarium in Makarska (MAKAR) of the Institutefor Mountain and Sea at the Museum Malakolo{ki. Thisis a private-type herbarium, founded in 1963 andcontains about 25,000 specimens. In terms of area itrepresents the Dalmatian region and in terms ofcontents, higher plants and algae.

• Herbarium of the Croatian Natural HistoryMuseum in Zagreb (CNHM) is the youngestherbarium in Croatia, founded in 1998 and consisting ofabout 9,000 specimens.


The Republic of Croatia is a party to the Conventionon Access to Information, Public Participation inDecision-Making and Access to Justice in EnvironmentalMatters.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection and PhysicalPlanning, certain sectoral ministries and local governmentand self-government units have allocated a portion of theirbudgets for projects and activities carried out by suchorganizations. These funds are in general comparativelylimited. No data on the portion of funds spent for theactivities connected with the protection of biological andlandscape diversity have been collected and evaluated so far.The compulsory manner of allocating funds for projects inthe field of protection of biological and landscape diversity isnot legally prescribed. The co-operation in concrete projectsis most often based on individual contacts, or rather requestsof organizations submitted to government bodies and localgovernment and self-government units. Within the Ministryof Environmental Protection and Physical Planning allactivities are performed by the Public Relations Department.Supports to projects of these organizations are very seldomprovided by government bodies and local government andself-government units on the basis of public tenders. Theobligation to invite public tenders for programmes of suchorganizations would ensure the distribution of relativelylimited funds exclusively by the criterion of the quality ofprogrammes offered and thus institutionalize the co-operation with the public in a more effective manner.

Conclusions• Organizations dealing with the protection of biological

and landscape diversity may be divided into two basicgroups: one consisting of professional organizationsoperating mainly at the state level whose members arebiologists and other experts of a similar profile, and theother consisting of organizations bringing togethercitizens mostly concerned about local issues.

• The main problem is the shortage of funds forimplementation of concrete projects of organizations in

the field of the protection of biological and landscapediversity.

• The majority of organizations is institutionallyunderdeveloped – they have neither permanently employedstaff nor offices required for their work and are poorlyequipped with EDP and similar devices.

• No tax reliefs are given to citizens and companies for thepayments made for the purpose of common benefit, exceptin the field of culture and sports.

• The mode of co-operation between organizations andgovernment bodies and local government and self-government units is to be determined in detail by laws andregulations. This particularly applies to the method offinancing projects through public tenders.

• There is no organization network that might ensure a highquality implementation of concrete projects concerningprotection of biological and landscape diversity at the locallevel, including the control over them. When establishing anetwork special role should be played by professional andscientific associations. In terms of organization they candefine a network of local associations which would coverthe area of the Republic of Croatia and implementeducational programmes for the members of localassociations in connection with biological and landscapediversity issues. This is a widely spread practice indeveloped countries – numerous organizations andvolunteers at the local level are involved in projects for theprotection of biological and landscape diversity, forexample, in collecting data on the spread of individualspecies and elaboration of inventories and maps of spread.This would to a high extent relieve the pressure on aportion of government bodies and local government andself-government units that under present circumstanceshave neither enough financial nor professional capacitiesavailable to satisfy all the needs of the protection ofbiological and landscape diversity at the local level.

• The role of organizations in the protection of biologicaland landscape diversity should be extremely great: theyshould be in many ways involved in concrete action plansfor the protection, from their formulation, implementationand monitoring to general public information andeducation.

• It is in the interest of the state to encourage and motivatenon-governmental organization in various ways to dealwith the issues of the protection of biological andlandscape diversity, especially at the local level, and tofacilitate and encourage partnership of organizations withlocal governments and institutions.

Box 75. Deficiencies of institutionalframework

• the majority of counties are lacking staff for natureprotection

• in the majority of counties no provisions have beenmade for management of protected parts of nature

• there is no government institution responsible for co-ordination of collecting and processing data onbiological diversity

• markedly insufficient inspection in the field of natureprotection

• poor organization and mutual co-ordination, shortage offunds for activities of non-governmental organizationsand

• failure to enforce and monitor the enforcement of lawsand regulations.

Figure 132.Professional non-governmentalorganizations maygive considerablescientificcontribution tofamiliarity with thebiological diversity(photo by D. Radovi})


EDUCATION, SCIENCE ANDPUBLIC INFORMATION

The principal tasks in the field of upbringing and education,science and public information have arisen from the need toprotect the biological and landscape diversity.

Changes taking place at the end of the 20th centuryhave brought about changes in science, in the system ofupbringing and education and in mass media. They can bedescribed by the key words of the contemporary world:insecurity, intolerance, uncontrolled technologicaldevelopment, consumer society and profit. All these factscause a mental confusion: people do not know any morewhat to approve and what disapprove.

Information, knowledge or facts provided do notsuffice; it is necessary to develop thinking about basic valuesand the underlying causes. Within such a framework ofvalues the relationship towards the immediate environment isformulated, including that towards the biological andlandscape diversity.

EducationThe unsatisfactory state of natural sciences in the primaryand secondary education is a result of an equally poor stateof natural sciences, particularly of zoology and botany atuniversities, institutes and museums of natural sciences. Thisapplies to the presence of specialists, the insufficient numberof high-quality scientists in individual disciplines, the lack of

a sound scientific criticism, financial constraints in zoologyand botany, the lack or absence of co-operation betweeninstitutions of natural sciences, etc.

The first precondition for covering the total schoolpopulation with adequate education is the appropriate timeallocation within the regular school time-table and thesecond is an adequately trained teacher, educated, skilled,sensitised and motivated. In this country these preconditionsare to the most part not fulfilled. Another weak link is theMinistry of Education and Sports, with employees who havebeen absent from the immediate teaching process for yearsand, without an adequate professional improvement, becomea brake to changes and flexibility in organizing the work ofschools.

The teachers complain bitterly about the inadequacy ofschoolbooks, poor school equipment, the shortage ofsupplementary sources of knowledge and professionalimprovement, feeling a special need for professionallyorganized excursions and adequate incentives for teachingwork (particularly after-hours).

As far as the university education in this field isconcerned there is a shortage of high quality, modernuniversity textbooks, even those translated, which results inthe unsatisfactory level of knowledge of students who will tothe most part become teachers of biology in primary andsecondary schools.

Within the Ministry of Environmental Protection andPhysical Planning one of the activities of the Public RelationDepartment is environmental education. Although still in itsbeginnings, this activity is increasingly developing.

Table 29. List ofsignificant non-governmentalorganizations dealingwith the protection ofbiological andlandscape diversity

NGO name Field of activities

Ecological Society of Brod protection and rehabilitation of nature

Caput Insulae Eco-Centre, Beli protection of griffon vulture, ecological tourism, cleaning of pools on islands

Eko-Liburnia, Rijeka ecological tourism, ecological agriculture

“Green Osijek” Ecological Society nature protection, biological diversity, ornithology, forestry, hunting,tourism, water management

Eurocoast ecology and protection of the Adriatic Sea, development planning

Croatian Centre of Environmental Education protection of nature and environment, education

Croatian Mountaineering Association, Nature Protection Commission protection of nature and environment

Croatian Biological Society protection of nature and biological sciences

Croatian Biospeleological Society study and protection of the karst underground

Croatian Society of Landscape Architects protection of landscape diversity and cultural heritage

Croatian Society for Water Protection protection of waters

Croatian Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature ornithology

Croatian Ecological Society environmental education of the public

Croatian Entomological Society protection of insects, protection of plants in agriculture and forestry

Croatian Ornithological Society ornithology, nature protection, environmental education

Croatian Society of Natural Sciences protection of nature and environment, education

Croatian Society of Forestry protection of nature, protection of forests, biological diversity, education

HYLA – Society for the Protection and Study of Amphibians and Reptiles study and protection of herpetofauna, protection of nature, educationin Croatia

NATURA – Society for Nature Protection in Croatia biological diversity, education, protection of nature and environment

“Our Beautiful Homeland” Movement of Nature Friends biological diversity, education, sustainability of agriculture, protection of nature and environment, waste management, water protection

Association of Breeders of Istrian Cattle breeding and protection of Istrian cattle

“Hrvatski Posavac” Association of Breeders of the Horse of Posavina horse breeding, protection of pastures

Svanimir – Croatian Society for the Protection of Natural and Cultural protection of nature, biological diversity, ecological education, practicalHeritage protection of nature


ScienceThe basic problem lies in the lack of a systematic study andmonitoring of biological diversity. There is no nationalprogramme of inventorying Croatia’s biological diversityavailable. This results in the fact that Croatia belongs to rareEuropean countries that have not described its flora,micoflora and fauna and is still lacking the essential

popular-science handbooks (the so-called keys) foridentification of species, even the translations of similarhandbooks that apply to the entire Europe. Such handbookswould enable a larger circle of nature lovers to join theinventorying projects. This method of data collection isaccustomed in developed countries that invest a lot ineducation of amateurs and receive from them an enormousquantity of information that would hardly have beencollected by experts and scientists.

Without being familiar with the present state ofbiological taxa as one of the fundamental national wealths,they can be neither correctly evaluated nor properlyprotected. Consequently, it is impossible to prepare the Redbooks of threatened plant, fungi and animal species, whicheverywhere form the basis for the protection of taxa.

The majority of Croatian national parks and otherespecially protected natural objects have neither theinventory of species living in the relevant area nor knowledgeabout the state of their population. Therefore it is difficult toapply the adequate approach to their management andprotection.

A particular problem in gathering information on thebiological and landscape diversity is its being unsystematicand incoordinated. The Ministry of EnvironmentalProtection and Physical Planning does not have at disposalany special funds that would be allocated for natureinventorying and evaluation, and such projects are, as a rule,not funded by the Ministry of Science since being moreprofessional than scientific. For that reason this area remainsabsolutely uncovered which is reflected in the shortage ofthe fundamental knowledge such as lists of flora, micofloraand fauna, or inventories of natural features of the mostvaluable protected areas.

Another serious problem is also the insufficientnumber of scientists – taxonomists that could “cover”individual groups of taxa. Among 35 botanists in Croatiathere are enough experts that could participate in preparingthe flora of higher plants. However, it is not enough to befamiliar with nearly all groups of lower plants, and only a fewexperts are qualified for such studies. Particular attention isto be paid to study of lower plants by means of advancedmicroscopical techniques, to development of co-operationwith the geneticists without neglecting the keeping ofdocuments, to providing conditions for preparation and

Figure 134. Fieldstudies of flora andfauna; students andassistant lecturers forthe study of biology atthe Faculty of Sciencein Zagreb working onthe plant (1) andanimal (2) material;observingornithofauna (3)(1 and 2 photo by T.Nikoli}, 3 photo by K.Leskovar)

1 2 3

Box 76. Deficiencies of educationalsystem

• insufficient number of classes in natural sciences withinregular teaching time-table

• small possibilities for professional improvement ofteachers and

• shortage of adequate schoolbooks, particularly inuniversity education.

Figure 133. “Eco-contributions”,regional schoolscompetition for theDay of Planet Earth– exhibition ofawarded works(photo by D. Spudi})


development of herbariums, and to specialisation of youngresearchers in the problem areas mentioned. The study offauna, particularly of invertebrates, is lagging far behindin relation to our knowledge of Croatia’s flora. Of a totalof 25 zoologists active in the country’s scientific, higheducation and cultural institutions only several of them aredealing predominantly with the fundamental taxonomicstudies. There is a great danger for young researchers tofocus entirely on molecular-biological and other, the so-called, modern studies and to leave the identification oforganisms that are the subject of their interest completely toforeign experts.

Journals in which taxonomic papers and checklists arepublished are few and regularly in a very difficult financialstate. For that reason their publication is discontinuous andpapers wait long to be published (Table 30).

Public informationA common feature of all mass media in Croatia (printed andelectronic), regardless of whether government or privately-owned, independent or oppositional, is that in addressingthe problem areas of biological diversity they show noteven nearly enough interest or a systematic behaviour. Thebasic defect is the lack of a system, integrity and targets thatcharacterize the media campaign. The non-specialized pressmostly does not show interest in these issues (for the sameor similar reasons as the non-governmental radio stationstoo), and therefore, despite the fact that eco-scandals andcases of misuse do not lag behind others, they follow ordescribe such cases very seldom.

There are several specialized editions dealing withissues of biological diversity. These are printed materialsvarying in quality (in terms of journalism and professionalbiology and ecology) and reaching in general a very limitedpublic that is already fairly educated and highly perceptive.Their survival is additionally threatened by the population’sinability to pay, the non-existence of reading habits and theorientation towards electronic media.

Speaking about the television and radio broadcasts ofthe Croatian Radio and Television it may be said that theexisting broadcasting medium space alloted to inform anddraw the attention of the public to issues of preserving thebiological diversity suffers from the following basicdeficiences:

• lack of coordination and system typical for campaigns• lack of popular-science films about Croatia’s

biological diversity (that should be broadcast at thebest viewing time as distinguished from the currentpractice)

• non-existence of adequate promotional material(commercials, films, etc.)

• inactractiveness of the majority of educationalbroadcasts in the field of ecology and

• structure resulting in the inability to produce a highquality programme.

At the IV. Ministerial Conference “Environment forEurope” held in June 1998 the Republic of Croatia signedthe Convention on Access to Information, PublicParticipation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice inEnvironmental Matters. By the act of signing Croatiademonstrated its committment to continue theimplementation of principles adopted earlier andincorporated in the country’s legislation in the matters ofnature and environment protection.

The obligation of public information and participationin making decisions on environmental matters is determinedby the Law on Environmental Protection laying down theright of the citizens to be timely informed aboutenvironmental pollution and measures taken in this regard,including a free access to information on environmental statein accordance with the Law and other regulations. Whensolving institutionally the environmental protection issues,the government bodies and the bodies of local governmentand self-government units ensure the participation of theparties concerned in accordance with the provisions of theLaw on Environmental Protectiont and other regulations.

The principle of openness and collaboration with thegeneral public is daily applied in activities of the Ministry ofEnvironmental Protection and Physical Planning. For seven

Table 30. Majorjournals publishingpapers related tobiological diversityinventorying

Figure 135. WWWsites of the CroatianInformation Servicefor BiologicalDiversity on theInternet offer a varietyof data, but requireconstant updating(photo by D. S. Jelaska)

Journal title Publisher Biological diversity topics

NATURA CROATICA Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb flora and fauna inventories, distributionsACTA BOTANICA CROATICA Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Zagreb flora, vegetation, distributionsLARUS Institute for Ornithology of the Croatian Academy of ornithofauna, distributions

Arts and Sciences, ZagrebACTA ADRIATICA Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Split biological diversity of the sea, distributions

Box 77. Deficiencies of the sciences

• lack of system and co-ordination in biological diversitystudy and monitoring

• lack of basic checklists and maps of the spread ofspecies

• lack of scientists – taxonomists, particularly forinvertebrate groups and

• a small number and discontinuity in publishingjournals that report on inventorying the biologicaldiversity.

years now the journal called “Environment” has beenpublished and distributed free of charge to all interestedpersons. The “Environment” brings information about theactivities of the national and local government and self-government, explanations of regulations within thecompetence of the Ministry of Environmental Protectionand Physical Planning, including information on eventsconcerning Croatia’s nature and environment and oninternational activities in this field.

The Internet site www.duzpo.hr contains the scope ofactivities of the Ministry of Environmental Protection andPhysical Planning, including regulations for which it iscompetent, the Environmental State Report, the Report onImplementation of Agenda 21 in the Republic of Croatia andall information on the Environmental Label. This implies theobligation of the Ministry to answer any question orcomplaint of the citizens.

For the purpose of collaborating with the general publicand public information about environmental state a specialPublic Relations Department was established within theMinistry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning.


Box 78. Deficiencies of the publicinformation

• low interest of media and non systematically reportingabout biodiversity and

• lack of specialised papers, TV and radio programs, i.e.specialised reporters.

BIOLOGICAL AND LANDSCAPEDIVERSITY THREATS

During preparation of the NSAP the analysis of the currentstate, threats and problems of the protection of biologicaland landscape diversity in Croatia demonstrated thefollowing:

• a very high degree of value and conservation of thebiological and landscape diversity on the European

scale, particularly in West-European and Central-European proportions

• the trend of losing the biological and landscapediversity in Croatia caused by recognisable factors

• the necessity to undertake immediate actions for theprotection of individual sections of the biological andlandscape diversity and

• heterogeneity of the quantity and quality of existinginformation on biological diversity that are in manycases not sufficient for implementation of adequateprotection measures.

971.6. THREATS AND PROBLEMS OF BIOLOGICAL AND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY PROTECTION

Figure 136. Three-lane motorwaythrough the forests ofGorski kotar(photo by A. Frkovi})

1.6. Threats and problemsof biological and landscapediversity protection

Criteria for selection of prioritiesThe NSAP development took place within thematic workinggroups. They singled out the priority sections of thebiological and landscape diversity whose protection requiresimplementation of special action plans based on previouslyagreed criteria that include:

• critically threatened species, habitats and landscapesof global, regional or national importance

• habitats containing a great number of endemic orthreatened taxa and/or a considerable biologicaldiversity and

• landscapes containing significant biological andcultural diversity.

PrioritiesThe analysis of the data collected showed the following:

• ecological systems of the karst represent a uniquenessand wealth on a global scale of value

• due to anthropogenic activities the most threatenedecological systems are aquatic and wetland systems

• the most threatened habitats are areas small insurface threatened by anthropogenic factors (sand andgravel beaches, pools on islands, small wetlands, etc.)or extremely rare habitats beyond the usualdistribution areas (moors, vegetation of sands)

• the priority species and subspecies are those that arethreatened on a global, European or national scale,endemic taxa and those showing the economic and/oreducational importance.

THREATS

Global threats to biological diversityAlthough biological diversity is naturally subject to constantchanges that brought about natural disappearance ofnumerous species from this planet in the course of evolution,over the last hundred years the major blame for a rapidimpoverishment of biological diversity, which is constantlyaccelerating, is to be put on man. There are some globalthreats to biological diversity recognizable all over the world:

• excessive growth of population and consumption ofnatural resources

• a small number of agricultural and forestry productsintended for trading, including introduction offoreign species for the needs of agriculture andforestry

• economic systems and policy that do not evaluate theenvironment and its resources adequately

• unevenly distributed ownership and access to naturalpotentials, including the access to potential benefitsof the biological diversity use and protection

• insufficient knowledge of biological diversity andrelated topics, insufficient application of existinginformation

• legislative and institutional systems that encouragethe unsustainable exploitation of natural resourcesand

• global climate changes.

Basic threats to biological andlandscape diversity in Croatia

In the course of the NSAP preparation the following basicthreats to biological and landscape diversity in Croatia wereidentified.

Threats to landscapesA. uneven, uniform urban development incompatible

with the surroundingsB. major infrastructure developments:

1. roads2. power industry plants (power generating plants,

storage lakes, transmission lines, piping, etc.)3. water management facilities (regulation of

watercourses, channels, storage lakes – retentions,dams, etc.)

C. agricultural activities (amelioration, landconsolidation, monocultures, cutting down of smallwoods, lines of trees and hedges)

D. construction of residential buildings, holiday andtourist facilities in, from the aspect of landscape,exposed places, without any plan and inadequate inrelation to siting and architecture.

Basic threats to biological diversity• habitat changes – destruction, degradation,

fragmentation• environmental pollution – soil, water, air• excessive exploitation of natural resources – hunting,

poaching, cutting, gathering, disturbing and• introduction of foreign species into ecological

systems.

In the area of Croatia there is also a noticeable processof biodiversity depletion. The formerly dominant ecologicalsystems of forests are nowadays considerably reduced. In thecourse of the history new landscapes and ecological systemswere formed in these regions, primarily as a result ofagricultural activities (arable land, meadows, pastures) and, inrecent times, more and more of urban development.Considerable damage was caused to once numerous wetlandsthat underwent excessive reclamation and reduction by man’shaving regulated the watercourses and thus extended hisliving space at their expense. Therefore wetlands are atpresent the most threatened ecosystems in Croatia.

In the course of the history agricultural activitiescombined with water management measures were beneficialfor man, but at the same time affected adversely thebiological diversity. Large agribusinesses (PIKs) that


Figure 137. Burnedreedbeds in thelower part ofNeretva river(photo by D. Grlica)

developed in the former system produced vast areas of arableland by land consolidation and reclamation, applyingmeasures of intensive agriculture accompanied by all usualnegative consequences for the biological diversity.

The insufficient observance of generally known andaccepted criteria of value from the aspect of natureprotection, the inadequate implementation of theenvironmental impact assessment procedure when planningextensive development measures, isolation from Europeancountries that were rapidly developing nature protectionactivities and numerous other reasons at that time typical tothe majority of countries in this part of Europe resulted inthe destruction of habitats and threats posed to their relatedspecies. The achievements of numerous projects have notjustified the investments. A perfect example is thereclamation of the Neretva delta that has irretrievablydegraded one of the most valuable Mediterranean wetlandregions which is nowadays, due to high costs of maintaining,deserted from the aspect of agriculture and graduallyregaining the ‘wild’ state.

Some examples of habitat changes and degradation arethe regulation of watercourses, conversion of forest areasinto agricultural land, draining wetlands and abandoningtraditional cattle grazing methods and growing nativecultivated plants. One of the most important reasons of thethreat to biological diversity is also the fragmentation ofnatural ecological systems, especially by constructing roads,settlements and public utilities, and the expansion ofintensively managed agricultural areas. The natural andsubnatural ecological systems thus broken into fragmentsremain isolated like islands on which species are not able anymore to communicate with other related areas which againresults in local extinction of species and a rapidimpoverishment of biological diversity.

Environmental pollutionThe consequence of almost all branches of economy(industry, agriculture, etc.) is the discharge of harmfulsubstances (toxicants) into the environment, soil, water oratmosphere. It is important to mention that due to naturalcirculation of substances in ecological systems harmfulsubstances reach all parts of the biosphere. For example,pesticides from the soil enter the underground watercoursesthrough run-off, while harmful substances contained in theair fall to the ground with atmospheric waters and penetratefurther into the underground waters. The impact of toxicantaccumulations in food chains is also highly important.

Areas with intensive agriculture, forestry andmariculture are particularly threatened.

A major problem for waters and wetlands is theintroduction of increased volumes of organic substances(agriculture – fertilizers, municipal wastewaters, etc.), whichincites a series of modifications to such ecological systems,including rapid overgrowing of wetland biotopes.

Excessive exploitation of biological resourcesThe uneconomical use of biological resources is aconsequence of the insufficient integration of protectionmeasures into various economic activities, through whichman has modified the natural structure of ecological systems,by favouring a smaller number of species and destroying andthus threatening at their expense a multitude of other species(agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing, water management).

The use of biological resources is often based not onactual knowledge of the state of populations, but is ratherlead by profit-making interests. Intensive hunting, fishing,plant and animal gathering for commercial and otherpurposes, excessive cutting of trees and disturbing animals in

991.6. THREATS AND PROBLEMS OF BIOLOGICAL AND LANDSCAPE DIVERSITY PROTECTION

Box 79. Outline of basic threats to biological diversity in Croatia and theircorrelations

forestry habitat disappearance: • depletion

degradationfragmentation

• •

environmentalpollution

(soil, water, air)

introduction of foreignspecies

excessive exploitationof biological sources: • overfishing

cuttinggatheringdisturbing

• • •

hunting

agriculture

fishery

trade

industryand energy

building

transport

tourism andrecreation

watermanagement

INDIRECT USE OFBIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

DIRECT USE OFBIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

THREATS

their habitats result in their direct disappearance from theecological system.

Introduction of foreign species into ecologicalsystemsAny intentional or unintentional introduction of foreign(allochthonous) species into the ecological system representsa serious degradation of the existing, highly vulnerableecological balance in it. The species introduced are adaptedto different habitat conditions, they have no natural enemiesand frequently drive the indigenous (autochthonous) speciesoff, becoming very rapidly the dominant species in theecological system. The indigenous species disappear, thuscausing the immediate reduction of biological diversity ofecological systems. In Croatia this phenomenon is posingthreat particularly to freshwater fish, while in the plant lifethere are examples of bastard-indigo spreading over themeadows and pastures and of the aggressive alga Caulerpa inthe Adriatic.

Other threatsIntegration of protection measures into physical planningand regional development procedures is inadequate. Apotential hazard for the protection of biological andlandscape diversity lies in certain ambitious developmentplans that have not been comprehensively elaborated asregards their influence on and consequences for the natureand environment.

Although Croatia possesses ideal preconditions forthe development of the so-called “ecological” tourism,these potentials are far from being exploited, and thetourist industry still poses threat to ecological balance ofthe space.

The migration of rural population to urban areas andsocio-economic changes in rural communities have resultedin the disappearance of extensive cattle-breeding on alpineand littoral grassland and abandonment of indigenouscultivated plants and domestic animals at the expense ofmore profitable taxa.

PROBLEMS OF EXISTINGPROTECTION

1. Lack of institutional framework for nature protection atthe administrative, expert and scientific level

The Government of the Republic of Croatia still does notgive enough consideration to issues of nature protectionwhich is reflected in the structure of the governmentadministration.

Institutional organisation of data compiling andprocessing is extremely felt, thus making the knowledge ofbiological diversity dependent on fragmented and mutuallyunrelated results of specific scientific research.

2. Lack of quality data on biological diversity as a keyprecondition for its efficient protection

In Croatia an extremely small number of plant, fungi andanimal groups have been check-listed, and few red lists ofthreatened taxa and distribution maps for them made. Also,habitat types have not been mapped according to theinternational CORINE-Biotopes classification, which is aEuropean standard.

A good knowledge of national biological and landscapediversity is a precondition for its effective protection at thenational level and a background to develop concrete actionplans for their protection. One of the underlying causes ofsuch a situation is the insufficient number of biodiversityscientists of a high standard.

3. Non-existence of special finance mechanisms apart fromregular funds provided by the state budget

The non-existence of special mechanisms to financebiological and landscape diversity protection beyond theregular finance for nature and environment protectionactivities secured by the state budget, which as a rule areabsolutely insufficient, is one of the main drawbacks to aneffective protection of biological and landscape diversity.

4. Inadequacy of the existing and uncoordination ofvarious regulations

The need for numerous amendments to the legislative actsand the necessity of adopting a new Nature Protection Actin particular, which would regulate issues of protection ofbiological and landscape diversity in a systematic andintegrated manner, is evident. There are areas that have notbeen legally regulated at all, e.g. protection of indigenousdomesticated taxa or issues of biological safety in handlinggenetically modified organisms.

5. Insufficient co-ordination and co-operation amongsectoral governmental authorities

Protection efforts are still considered opposition andimpediment to the development and natural resourcemanagers very frequently have inadequate “ecological”education. The difficult economic conditions and prioritisingcertain development programmes that pose a potential threatto biological and landscape diversity are further aggravatingthe problem.

6. Insufficient degree of general public information in thematters of protection of biological and landscapediversity

Participation of the public in decision-making concerningprotection of nature and the environment is poor. The massmedia show in most cases very little interest in the mattersof nature and environmental protection which results in alow level of information and education of the general public.The influence of non-governmental organisations is alsonegligible.

7. Insufficient implementation and control of the protectionof biological and landscape diversity in the field

A significant problem of practical protection of biologicaland landscape diversity is the lack of qualified expert staff toimplement necessary protection measures in the field.Counties do not have their nature protection inspectorwhose duties are currently carried out by environmentalinspectors. Similarly, customs and police officers are notadequately trained for prevention of illegal trade in naturalresources.

8. No incorporation of the business sector into theprotection of biological and landscape diversity

The business sector has so far been almost completelyexcluded from biological and landscape diversity protection.However, it could be included into the protection throughsponsorships for concrete actions. The companies thatdirectly use or influence the biological and landscapediversity should be committed to allocate certain funds toprotection activities.


box 71. yellow sea fan (eunicella cavolini) · productive forests have been separated under...

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