Eleven of Croatia's nature parks and eight of Croatia's national parks take a step in the right direction to manage their protected areas.
First things first, what do you know about Natura 2000?
To put things simply, it is the largest network of protected areas in the world. And to be even more specific, the network stretches over 18% of the EU’s land area and almost 6% of its marine territory!
In practice, from the Europe Commission's website, Nature 2000, “is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right. It stretches across all 28 EU countries, both on land and at sea. The aim of the network is to ensure the long-term survival of Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats, listed under both the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive.”
That said, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Energy in Croatia, Tomislav Ćorić, has signed a cooperation agreement with the directors of all 11 nature parks for the implementation of the project "Development of the Natura 2000 Ecological Network and Management Framework”, announces the Ministry of Tourism and HRTurizam on September 13, 2017.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy has provided 186,497,150 HRK for the project, of which 85% of the funds were provided under the Operational Program of Competitiveness and EU Cohesion.
The agreements were signed by the Minister of Biokovo, Kopački rit, Lastovo, Lonjsko polje, Medvednica, Papuk, Telašćica, Učka, Velebit, Vransko Lake and Žumberak-Samoborsko gorje. In July, agreements were signed with the directors of all eight national parks, and a signing with the heads of the county and local public institutions is also expected.
Within the project, Natura 2000 ecological network and management plans will be developed. These are strategic documents that determine the purpose and status of the area and identify the goals of management and activities needed to achieve the goals.
By joining the EU, the Republic of Croatia has declared its Natura 2000 network with their more than 260 species and 70 habitats, covering about 37% of the land territory and 15% of the coastal sea, ranking Croatia at the top of Europe. The goal of investing in this European ecological network is to promote the conservation of nature and the biodiversity policy, therefore making it crucial to participate and strengthen the capacity of public institutions to manage their ecological networks.
The project partner is the Croatian Agency for Environment and Nature, while the associates include eight national parks, 11 nature parks, and 23 county and local public institutions for protected natural areas and Croatian water.
