January 29, 2020 - Outdoor tourism in the protected areas of Istria was presented at the CMT - Die Urlaubsmesse trade fair in Stuttgart, with a special emphasis on cycling and nature walking, as part of the EU project KLIM Kontija-Lim Bay. 

Glas Istre reports that among the many European projects implemented or currently being implemented by the County of Istria is the EU project LIKE - Living on the Karst Edge. Thus, as part of this great German fair, everything that the Ćićarija mountain plateau has to offer, including the development potential of cycling tourism under the brand of Ćićarija Regional Park, was presented in this segment.

“We have presented and exhibited promotional materials related to outdoor hiking and biking with an emphasis on eco-friendly tourism products and offers in nature protected areas. We also presented the second edition of the brochure on eco-friendly content in Istria called Istria ecoxperience - Everything Eco in Istria. The sea and the seabed of the Lim Bay on the west coast represent a special reserve in the sea, while its slopes and coast are protected natural values, which include the Kontija Special Forest vegetation reserve. 

This year, the area is richer with cycling trails and educational walks that blend in without compromising the natural environment to allow visitors to move along the entire channel with the opportunity to engage in a range of recreational and educational programs. At the fair, we exhibited leaflets, brochures, monographs and posters, and enriched it with video materials. Everything is super accepted as people seek new experiences and move away from the hustle and bustle,” said Bruno Kostelic, Head of the Department for Nature and Environmental Protection in the County Department for Sustainable Development.

He also emphasized that cycling and cycling tourism are of primary interest for the development of selective forms of tourism in Istria, and that in the case of the Ćićarija Regional Park, this potential takes on a whole new light.

One of the key trends in the tourism sector is the growing concern for the environment, both by hoteliers and other tourism companies and guests, among whom there are more and more people who change the way they travel because they care about the environment and seek content that offers natural values and unspoiled nature.

“Istria County is a tourist destination, which has numerous natural values and landscapes that are not exclusively related to the sea, as well as offers and tourist facilities on the coast. In the Istrian peninsula, 35 natural areas are protected, and with the accession of Croatia to the European Union, we are additionally adorned with 66 Natura 2000 sites, which makes up 37 percent of the total area of protected natural values in our county. Natural values are our wealth and potential we protect, and we develop new tourism products with innovative concepts such as citizen science projects and other content and offerings within protected areas that in many ways involve science, locals and our guests, leaving us with a real sense of involvement and contribution to protecting nature,” Kostelic notes.

Istria County is a partner in the EU project KLIM Kontija-Lim Bay, Sustainable Management of Protected Areas, which is implemented under the Operational Program Competitiveness and Cohesion with an implementation period from August 2018 to December 2021, the leading partner of which is the Municipality of Vrsar. The project is being implemented to use the Kontija Forest and the entire Lim Bay sustainably, through the construction of a scientific and educational center of the Kontija protected forest, as well as providing numerous additional facilities following the nature protection conditions and developing a broader vision of the development of the Lim Valley area. In its spatial scope, it includes the project area, but it also extends to the areas of the currently unincorporated cities and municipalities of Pazin, Rovinj, Kanfanar, Sveti Lovreč, Sveti Petar u Šumi, Tinjan and Žminj.

At the same time, because of the exceptional natural values of the Lim Bay and the Kontija Forest, recognized through several different nature protection categories of the project area, the Natura Histrica Public Institution plans to develop management plans for these areas for their protection and sustainable development. The Kontija Forest thus becomes one of the key natural resources for the further development of tourism in the Municipality of Vrsar.

The KLIM project begins the systematic approach to the valorization of the wider area of the Lim Bay and the Lim Valley, which abounds in exceptional natural and cultural heritage. The broader framework and vision of the development are defined by documents that the County of Istria has produced before the implementation of the KLIM project, the Spatial Programming Basis (PPO) of the Lim Bay and Lim Draga, the programming concept of Lim Valley Park, the Lim Bay Recreation Park design concept.

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