January 25, 2022 - It has been a long time coming, but Marjan Park cameras will be set up in nine locations to record and track visitors, with free Wifi for citizens and tourists planned as well. 

Marjan Forest Park management intends to set up a system and equipment for recording, tracking, and controlling visitors, as well as a system for public wireless internet access for all park visitors, reports Slobodna Dalmacija.

Two bids were received to procure and install the equipment in Marjan Forest Park. The community of providers "Smartnet" and "Alsace alarms" offers a service of 739 thousand kuna, and the company "Securitas Croatia" made an offer of 745 thousand kuna.

According to the cost estimate, the visitor monitoring system and internet access would be set up in nine locations: the northern Marjan Gate, the southern Marjan Gate, the "Water Reservoir" entrance, Bene, Sedlo, Telegrin, the Botanical Garden, the Zoo, and the First Lookout. 

Slobodna Dalmacija spoke to the acting Director of the Public Institution, Stipe Mušura, about how the new cameras would work. 

"This would be about the same as in other protected areas, a camera that records the entry of visitors. Pure electronics are at stake. We have examples in other protected areas, this is nothing new," Mušura said. 

However, when asked if they would be identification cameras, which will be able to determine the identity of the visitor, Mušur said that he did not know and that it was only important for them to install the devices. 

"The public procurement procedure is ongoing. Upon completion we will give the required answers," he added. 

Slobodna Dalmacija also learned that public access to the Internet on Marjan would not be charged, and as Mušura said, "it would be a free support for citizens and tourists".

This is great news for everyone in Split! 

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July the 24th, 2021 - A group of Split students have a praiseworthy project in mind which would see the paths of the Marjan Forest Park properly mapped out and a kids' workshop designed and created at the zoo.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Lucija Spiljak writes, ''For a better Marjan/Za bolji Marjan'' is the name of the project that Split students Nikolina Musa, Mia Rosic and Ariana Kecic applied for a UPSHIFT three-day workshop within a unique UNICEF programme (ZABUM/Za buducnost mladih/For the future of young people), from which they returned as one of the winning teams/projects.

As the name suggests, this group of Split students focused on arranging unmaintained existing areas and creating new recreational facilities in the Marjan Forest Park in the heart of Split.

Nikolina, Mia and Ariana explained how they heard from their school psychologist Hana Paver about the three-day workshop for UPSHIFT, which is jointly conducted by the UNICEF Office for Croatia and the Croatian Office for Creativity and Innovation (HUKI).

It was, as these Split students say, a great opportunity for them to try something new, something different and get out of their comfort zones. Before the beginning of the workshop, they conducted a survey with 200 respondents for the reported topic of PS Marjan in order to determine what is bothering Split's citizens about the area the most.

"Based on that, we devised a plan that we first presented to the school psychologist because she was our biggest support in the beginning. We prepared the project for realisation at the workshop with the guidance of our mentor Nikola Jamicic,'' explained Nikolina.

For the first project, the Split students chose a photo competition with the main theme of natural beauty and cultural heritage of Marjan in order to take small steps to bring young people closer to the beloved forest park.

"We've noticed that people neglect it and don't appreciate it as much as they should. As individuals, we couldn't organise the photo contest on our own, so we turned to HPD Mosor for help, and at the meeting we presented our finished idea to the President, Ivana and the head of the photo section, Zana. They were delighted with our plan and we immediately started cooperating. The competition was open from June the 1st to July the 4th, and the awards ceremony was held on July the 12th at the First Viewpoint on Marjan, followed by the opening of the exhibition in the HPD Mosor, where the photos will be exhibited until the end of September,'' explained Mia.

As part of the initiative, they say, they want to raise awareness, as well as educate and motivate young people and initiate volunteer actions.

"Our next plan is to complete the project from Upshift and we're preparing leaflets with QR codes that lead to the All trails programme where Marjan's thematic trails will be mapped out with bilingual descriptions and photos. In addition, we've established cooperation with the zoo on Marjan and together we will organise fun and educational workshops for children,'' announced Nikolina.

Despite this truly commendable idea, the Split students say it wasn't at all easy for them at first because the environment was uninspiring and their peers underestimated their project and the effort and work they'd put in. However, Nikolina, Mia and Adriana say that this was just an additional incentive for them to prove that with perseverance, everything can be achieved.

"As we worked, so many doors began to open for us and we just caught the opportunities that came our way. Of course, our biggest support lay with our parents, the school psychologist and our class teacher. We've cooperated with: HPD Mosor, the Marjan Association, the Public Institution for the Management of PS Marjan, and Zoo Split,'' stated Nikolina.

Given that they tried something new in a somewhat uninspiring environment, just how do these promising high school students view the Croatian education system, and what are their plans are in the future? Do they want to stay here in Croatia or would they prefer to build a career abroad.

"The Croatian education system, despite the reforms, is a bit behind. Not all parts of Croatia are equally equipped for normal operation, and defective parts can often be found. But the biggest problem is the professors' attitudes, which hasn't changed to keep up with the reforms.

In my opinion, more educational programmes should be introduced in which, in addition to students, professors will also be educated. In addition, the material should be reduced by eliminating excess unnecessary information. Special attention should be paid to making presentations, and especially to the way these works are presented,'' said Ariana.

Although it was not easy for the Split students back at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic due to online classes and having to keep a distance from their classmates and friends, they believe that the schools did well.

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January 22, 2020 - For the first time, the Split City Councilors presented the Biological Restoration Study of Marjan Forest Park, which foresees the restoration of several areas that were destroyed during its rehabilitation from bark beetles.

Splitski Dnevnik reports that the Croatian Forestry Institute created the study. According to it, some parts of the forest will continue to be afforested with pine because it cannot be converted to more stable species. However, experts at the institute say that they ultimately want to see blackberry and black ash on Marjan, which is good for the long-term, and because the Aleppo pine is nearing its end.

The afforestation begins in the autumn of this year, said Martina Đodan, a research associate at the Croatian Forestry Institute, and the study will be supplemented with other Marjan sites after the two locations.

“The study is based on an agreement signed by the Croatian Forestry Institute with the City of Split on scientific research and professional cooperation, and it provides biological restoration guidelines for a part of the Marjan area and not for the entire area. The entire project was completed in December last year, using imagery of crewless aerial vehicles, which defined priority areas of about 15 hectares,” said Đodan, who added that the areas are primarily located in the north and that it was mainly to determine stable vegetation.

The selected areas that have been prioritized for restoration have been thoroughly crossed and found to be Mediterranean vegetation.

"It has been determined at these two locations that some parts are ready to plant progressive, native vegetation such as holm oak and its associated olive-like species. However, in some parts, we have rocky micro-locations where the existing vegetation will remain; in some parts, we will have to go again with the pioneer species of pine and cypress."

The amount of seedlings has been determined. One of the locations will mostly plant conifer oaks (about 40 percent), while in others, the pioneer pine species will be planted the most.

“On 95.5 percent of the Marjan area, vegetation conditions were satisfactory during the recording, which was in late August and early September, and there was a smaller percentage of trees that were infected. The biology of the bark attack itself is a speedy process and it is possible to detect successively new foci or a new state,” Đodan pointed out, adding that pheromone traps are still being set up and the monitoring is ongoing.

"However, we must also say that the culture of the pioneer species in Marjan has reached its physiological maturity and is in a state of dying away. Therefore, the Mediterranean crust is not the only threat to the forest, but it should be looked at as a gradual replacement with mixed younger stands.” 

Conditions in Marjan are difficult and increasingly challenging due to climate change, where the Mediterranean is the hardest hit. A smaller proportion of trees was also observed after remediation.

"We would recommend remodeling and cutting down trees in the first place, but preparatory work needs to be done. Due to preparatory actions, we recommend planting in autumn, when seedlings have the greatest survival rate, but it is necessary to provide quality forest material. It is important to nurture the seedlings after they are planted.”

The bark beetle has already hit Marjan and will be there again, and what is needed now is resiliant trees, experts warn. Threats are also linked to climate change and the introduction of invasive species as well as societal pressure on forests. In this regard, some other European countries are also working on adapting forests and forest cover by replacing species, which is the main activity of such a strategy.

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A series of new content intended for citizens, visitors, and tourists will make Split's famous hill even more attractive. 

If you're planning on frequenting Marjan today, you might want to hold tight. 

The Ministry of Tourism has awarded 137,000 HRK for this project.