NATURA 2000 in Croatia – towards
implementation and management
Ivana Plavac, Biljana Ivičić
State Institute for Nature Protection
Croatia
6th - 8th October 2010
Eurosite Workshop
Natura 2000 Site Managers: their key role, profile and importance for Europe¹s
nature
Outline of the presentation
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Preparation of the NATURA 2000 proposal
PHARE 2005 project - Implementation of the
NATURA 2000 and the consultation process
Management of the National Ecological Network
and main issues
Nature Impact Assessement
NATURA 2000 proposal preparation
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responsibility of the State Institute for
Nature Protection (SINP) as a central
institution for expertise work of nature
conservation in Croatia
prepared through several phases, based on
the best available scientific data and expert
knowledge.
the first phase comprised collecting and
processing of relevant data from scientific
institutions, individual experts and NGOs in
the scope of several international projects
the second phase involved coordination of
the new field researches financed through
the state budget
the third phase, which is now finished
encompassed the consultation process with
all relevant stakeholder groups in the scope
of PHARE 2005 project "Implementation of
NATURA 2000 in Croatia", .
Emerald network project – I and II
phase
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2001-2003, 2006 - Council of Europe, EEA
The results of this project:
Expert Committee for Species and Habitats
has been established
compilation of lists of species and habitat
types by biogeographic region
creation of GIS distribution maps of species
and habitats
determination of the status of distribution
data for Emerald/NATURA 2000 species and
habitats in Croatia;
collection of scientific data for the purpose of
draft recommendations for the amendment
of Resolution nos. 4 and 6 of the Bern
Convention and the corresponding EU
Directives;
Emerald network project – I and II
phase
drafting of the list of ASCI sites of the
Emerald Network (potential NATURA
2000 sites)—earmarking more than
90% of the area of the future final
proposal;
 compilation of the Emerald database
for proposed ASCI sites (potential
NATURA 2000 sites);
 definition of digital borders in GIS for
all processed ASCI sites;
 creation of a web based application
with an overview of the map of the ASCI
areas and accompanying data from the
Emerald database.
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LIFE III CRO-NEN Building-up the National
Ecological Network as a Part of the PanEuropean Ecological Network & NATURA 2000
Network
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2003-2005
535.850 €; 70% (375.000 €) EC
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Main tasks:
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training of nature protection authorities related to
EU legislation, NATURA 2000 commitments and
building up of ecological network
building up the National Ecological Network which
will include species and habitat types threatened or
rare on national level; parts of the CRO-NEN to be
proposed as potential sites of NATURA 2000
development of the network of people involved in
data gathering
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LIFE III CRO-NEN Building-up the National
Ecological Network as a Part of the PanEuropean Ecological Network & NATURA 2000
Network
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2005-2006. revision of the CRO-NEN based on the newly gathered
scientific data
2007. Regulation on the proclamation of Ecological Network (NN
109/2007) - proclaims the ecological network of the Republic of
Croatia with the system of ecologically important areas and
ecological corridors with conservation objectives and guidelines for
conservation measures which are aimed at maintaining or
establishing a favourable status of threatened and rare habitat types
and/or wild taxa.
LIFE III CRO-NEN Building-up the National
Ecological Network as a Part of the PanEuropean Ecological Network & NATURA 2000
Network
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2005-2006. revision of the CRO-NEN based on the newly gathered
data
2007. Regulation on the proclamation of Ecological Network (NN
109/2007) - proclaims the ecological network of the Republic of
Croatia with the system of ecologically important areas and
ecological corridors with conservation objectives and guidelines for
conservation measures which are aimed at maintaining or
establishing a favourable status of threatened and rare habitat types
and/or wild taxa.
Indicated
Potential
NATURA
2000 sites
Target feature
Guidelines for
conservation
measures
LIFE III CRO-NEN Building-up the National
Ecological Network as a Part of the PanEuropean Ecological Network & NATURA 2000
Network
www.cro-nen.hr/nem
II. Phase – Coordination of the new field
researches financed through the state budget
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2006. – 2010. systematic field data gathering, mobilisation of the
scientific, expert and non governmental sector
researches are specifically directed for completion of the NATURA
2000 database
Biodiversity od the Republic of Croatia
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Relatively small area
4 biogeographic regions
In the process of negotiation
Croatia requested to omit
Panonnian region because it
does not belong to it neither
in terms of vegetation, floral
elements nor climatic
conditions, with the exception
of a very small area at the
easternmost part of the
country – proposition has
already been accepted by the
Bern Convention Standing
Committee, waiting for the EC
to accept
Biodiversity od the Republic of Croatia
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Significant contribution to European Natura 2000 network
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223 species (birds: 87 BD I + 53 reg. migratory; other species: 136 HD
II) and 72 habitat types (HD I)
Amendments of Annexes I and II of the
Habitats Directive
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Directives do not
include some
specifics of
Croatian
biodiversity so in
the negotiation
process with EU
Croatia proposes
additional species
and habitat types
to be added to
the annexes of
the HD
Mostly related to
carst and
Mediterranean
region
Taxonomic
groups
Species proposed for
amendments of Annex II of
the Habitats Directive
Common name
Vertebrates
Mammals
Dinaromys bogdanovi
Balkan Snow Vole
Reptiles
Dinarolacerta mosorensis
Mosor rock lizard
*Vipera ursinii macrops
Karst meadow viper
Aulopyge huegelii
Dalmatian Barbel
Salmothymus obtusirostris
Adriatic trout
Chondrostoma kneri
Dalmatian nase
Chondrostoma phoxinus
Minnow nase
Knipowitschia croatica
Croatian goby
Squalius svallizae
Adriatic dace
Squalius microlepis
Makal dace
Fishes
Invertebrates
Butterflies
Protoerebia afra dalmata
Grasshoppers Pachytrachis bosniacus
Dalmatian Ringlet
Plants
*Degenia velebitica
velebitska degenija
Potential SPAs
 Proposal prepared by
Ornithological Institute of
the Academy of Sciences
 BirdLife International
criteria
 38 internationally
important areas (SPA)
Selection of potential SCIs
NATURA 2000 habitats
in Croatia are widely
distributed
Selection of pSCI integration of data
about species and
habitat distribution
Selection of potential SCIs
 Interpretation manual for determination
of terrestrial habitats according to the
Habitats Directive
 NATURA 2000 habitat types have been
recoded into the National classification
of habitats
Map of potential SCIs
Institutions involved in preparation of the proposal:
 Arka Arka
 Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable
Development SUNCE
 BIOM – Association for Biological Research
 Blue World - Institute of Marine Research and
Conservation
 Center for Marine Research, „Ruđer Bošković“
Institute
 Croatian Biospeleological Society
 Croatian Botanical Society
 Croatian Herpetological Society - HYLA
 Croatian Ichthyological Society
 Croatian Odonatological Society Platycnemis
 Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb
 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science
 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science
 Ecological Association „Emys”
 Faculty of Forestry
 Faculty of Veterinary medicine
 „Grupa Sredozemna Medvjedica” – Association for
Research and Nature Protection
 Institute for Oceanography and Fisheries, Split
 Institute for Marine and Coastal Research , Dubrovnik
 Natural history museum, Rijeka
 Research-educational centre for the protection of
nature „Caput Insulae Beli“
 The Association of Environmental Protection „Val“
Phare 2005 “Institutional strengthening and
implementation of the NATURA 2000 ecological
network in Croatia”
 2008.-2009.
 Total 1.611.750 €; 75% EC (1.538.048 €)
 Three main tasks:
 completing the NATURA 2000 proposal and consultation process
with all relevant stakeholders
 creation of two management plans for potential NATURA 2000
areas were developed in cooperation with local stakeholders
 the training of competent bodies in the mechanisms of nature
impact assessements
Phare 2005 - NATURA 2000 consultation process
 for a successful implementation it is necessary to have a good
image of NATURA 2000 from the very beginning so it was very
important to start a process of institutional and public awareness
raising
 the consultation process comprised few major steps shown
Phare 2005 - NATURA 2000 consultation process
 A pre-step for a successful consultation phase is a certain level of
basic information - for that purpose www.natura2000.hr website
has been created and the most important part of the website was
the interactive map where users can easily search through
proposed NATURA 2000 sites in their region.
Phare 2005 - NATURA 2000 consultation process
 Searching the interactive map by locations
Phare 2005 - NATURA 2000 consultation process
 Searching the interactive map by species
Phare 2005 - NATURA 2000 consultation process
 Basic information about the site from the database
1. round of sectoral workshops
 forestry, water management, agriculture, physical planning, nature
protection, scientific community, NGOs
 every session started with brief
information about NATURA 2000 in
Europe and Croatia,
 followed by the “question and answer”
session,
 after that an interactive phase was
scheduled to discuss rumours, fears
and opportunities
 at the end participants filled out
evaluation sheets
1. round of sectoral workshops
 For better understanding of NATURA 2000, specific sectoral
brochures were made for each sector
 Reports of the each
workshop were
published on web
2 days regional workshops
(Osijek, Varazdin, Rijeka, Karlovac, Split)
1st Day
NATURA 2000 in general
2nd Day
NIA and NATURA 2000
• Situation in Europe
• Situation in Croatia
• Examples
• Plenary Discussion
• NIA in general
• What is significant impact
• Compensation and mitigation measures
• Public interest
• Alternative solutions
2. round of sectoral workshops
 In the 2nd round the agenda was focussed on
remaining or new questions
 how SINP plans to realize additional ideas and
requests
 SINP wanted to inform all participants how the
results of the first round of workshops have been
implemented in the proposal of site-designation
 Changes based on participants comments
 Changes based on refining site
boundaries
 Changes based on new scientific dana
 All changes to the proposal were made in line
with the requirements of the HD and BD; in
accordance to its criteria
Conclusions from the workshops
 more than 300 inputs and comments have been worked out in the
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working groups
more than 300 different questions have been answered
the comments of the participants referred to the proposal of
NATURA 2000 sites as well as to general expectations, requests or
ideas for further cooperation.
all reports of the workshops and presentations are published on
web and were sent to the participants
for many participants these workshops were only a starting point
for more discussions and they expect further activities how they will
be involved in the whole NATURA 2000 process
 Working group for forests has been established –
discussion about conservation measures
 Agreement with physical planning sector has been
made to organize meetings with every county authority
about exchange of digital geographical data and precise
definition of site boundaries
Next steps:
 IPA 2007 Identification and setting-up of
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the marine part of NATURA 2000
network in Croatia – starts in November
2010
Total ≈527.000 €
a detailed plan to determine all potential
NATURA 2000 marine sites will be
developed, in co-operation with
international experts
deep sea mapping
training on monitoring and reporting in
line with the requirements of the HD
training of amateurs, including members
of diving clubs and centres for mapping
and monitoring of marine species and
habitats
Next steps:
 IPA 2009 Natura 2000
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management and monitoring —
(MAN-MON) – starts in 2011
Total ≈ 1.250.000 €
purpose of this project is to build
capacities on national and
county level for management of
NATURA 2000 sites
to develop 6 management plans
for selected potential NATURA
2000 sites
to contribute to development
and implementation of the
national monitoring framework
needed for reporting according
to the Habitats Directive
Management of NATURA 2000 sites
 According to the Nature Protection Act, the future regulation on
NATURA 2000 network will prescribe conservation measures for each
site
 In the framework of PHARE 2005 project, draft conservation measures
for groups of potential NATURA 2000 sites have been developed
 Croatia will designate NATURA 2000 network by the day of the
accession to the EU but already, by the Regulation on the proclamation
of Ecological Network (NN 109/2007), has transposed all main
requirements of the Habitat Directive into the national legislation
 Potential NATURA 2000 sites have been proclaimed and
nature impact assessement is carried out in accordance with
Article 6.
Conservation and management of ecological
network areas according to the Regulation on NEN
 Article 3
 Conservation measures related to ecological network sites are
established on the basis of guidelines for conservation measures listed
in appendix
 Guidelines for protection measures related to ecological network site
apply to all natural and legal persons who exploit natural resources in
those areas and perform activities and projects in line with the Act.
 Data on whether the scope of a document or plan affects an ecological
network site shall be entered into physical planning documents and
natural resource management plans.
Conservation and management of ecological
network areas according to the Regulation on NEN
 Article 4
 Ecological network site, which is at the same time proclaimed as a
protected area in line with the Nature Protection Act, shall be
managed by a public institution on the national level.
 Ecological network site, which is located outside a protected area, and
is not specially protected, shall be managed by a public institution for
managing protected natural values which is established by a regional
self-government unit (PI on the county level),
 Ecological network site which is located on the territory of two or more
counties shall be jointly managed by public institutions for managing
protected natural values of those counties.
 In Croatia, there are currently 19 public institions at the national level
(National and Nature Parks) and 20 at the county level
Conservation and management of ecological
network areas according to the Regulation on NEN
 Article 5
 Protection of ecological network sites is ensured by implementation of
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the prescribed conservation measures and nature protection
requirements issued by the nature protection authority
A management plan for the purpose of conserving each site within the
ecological network shall be adopted for ecological network sites
If an ecological network site is at the same time protected area, the
Protected Area Management Plan shall be considered as the
Ecological Network Management Plan
If an ecological network site is not protected, the Ecological Network
Management Plan is adopted by a public institution for managing
protected natural values on the county level
Exploitation of natural resources in an ecological network site is
performed on the basis of natural resource management plans, which
contain measures and requirements for nature protection
Management plans
So far 13 management plans have been prepared in the framework of
several international projects, 10 are in preparation, and 6 are planned
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“Karst Ecosystems Conservation” project financed by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) via a World Bank 2003. – 2008. - five management
plans for five PAs (Nature Park Velebit, National Parks Paklenica, Risnjak, Sjeverni Velebit and Plitvice lakes
“Developing a model for the conservation of Croatia’s grassland biodiversity” – financed by Darwin Initiative for the Survival of Species –
2004. – 2007. – management plan for Nature park Žumberak i Samoborsko gorje
CARDS 2002 “Capacity building of the State Institute for Nature Protection” 2005. – 2006. - management plans for two small future NATURA
2000 sites were developed (Dubravica Bog and Đurđevac Sands)
INTERREG IIIA HUN SLO- CRO 2004-2006 “Establishment of the transboundary network of karstic protected areas and their joint
management” – 2006. – 2008. – management plan for Nature Park Učka
LIFE05 “Central Posavina – Wading toward Integrated Basin management” – 2006. – 2008. – management plan for Nature park Lonjsko polje
The PHARE 2005 “Institutional Building and Implementation of NATURA 2000 in Croatia” 2008. - 2009. - preparation of the management
plan for Vransko Lake Nature Park and Jasen candidate Natura 2000 site and development of the management plan for the candidate Natura
2000 site important for large carnivores
„Capacity building of local public institutions for management of protected natural values, in process of legislative alignment with
EU“financed by Swedish fund SIS – 2008. - 2 management plans for ecological network sites and proposed NATURA 2000 sites are prepared MP for Drežničko polje including Polje Lug and MP for Dretulja river
„Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean Sea Large Marine Ecosystem - Pilot-project for Croatian marine protected areas“ (MedPan) –
2009. – 2012. - financed by FFEM and WWP-MedPO, RAC/SPA)- development of 5 management plans for selected marine parks: national
parks Kornati, Mljet and Brijuni, as well as nature parks Telašćica and Lastovo archipelago - in preparation
IPA 2009 “Natura 2000 management and monitoring” (MAN-MON) – 2011. - 2012. - development of 6 management plans for six potential
NATURA 2000 sites (alluvial forests in Vukovar-Srijem County, locality Pregon in Istria County, complex Mediterranean fields and mountain
areas in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Odransko polje in Sisak-Moslavina County, locality Bulji in Lika-Senj County, transboundaryriver in KrapinaZagorje County - planned
General issues about management and
management plans
 The state has put the responsibility of management of National
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ecological network sites on public institutions for managing protected
natural values,
PIs of areas protected by the NPA are relatively well capacitated and
are financed through the state budget, but they are responsible for
only 19 sites, and still it is not clearly determined by the legislation are
they obliged for management of the parts of the sites whose
boundaries extent outside the boundaries of the PAs,
County PIs are under capacitated and struggling with constant need for
ensuring funds – not enough directed to self-initiatively search for
external funding in the framework of some international projects
beacuse of the lack of capacity; relying on the county budget which is
not sufficient, they are not funded by the state budget
All these issues result in a small number of management plans
Most of the management plans done in the past are bounded to areas
protected by NPA and are more oriented to a classical way of
conserving the area and not specifically directed to the conservation of
favourable conservation status of target species and habitats.