engleski

Developing Coastal Management Plan in Croatia – a success story

Expansions of urban conglomerations, industries, tourism development, and more recently mariculture in Croatia have opened many questions related to the environmental integrity of coastal environment. Competition for the space becomes one of the most important factors determining sustainable development of any coastal activities. The governmental authorities have recognized that the problem of space is a real one, and must be dealt within integrative concept. Following the best practice in the EU Croatia has really made a huge progress in developing the indicator based environmental information systems (IES). Croatian Marine Database Portal, that is established within the Adriatic Sea Environmental Management Plan (ASEMP project), is not intended solely for the needs of the environmental issues, but can be used also in many economically sound sectors. The project had two essential elements: the development of a central information system and to provide an assistance in making planning decisions. Coastal Management Plan (CMP) – with special focus on aquaculture has been recognized as an optimal tool to prevent spatial conflicts and to create framework for sustainable marine aquaculture development in Croatia. ASEMP together with CMP have established the position of the Republic of Croatia towards future management of the Adriatic resources, with the intention to provide a wide range of investment opportunities for national and international investors. It has also facilitated zoning and site selection for mariculture at the local level. So far, three out of seven coastal counties have been applying Integrated Coastal Area Management (ICAM) principles. Istria, Zadar and Split County, all of these having very attractive coastal zones, while their economy is predominantly based on tourism and fisheries including marine aquaculture undertake procedures for mariculture planning and integration into physical plan. A detailed overview of activities will be presented and discussed. It is believed that Croatian experience and its related data bases developed for marine environment could make a platform for the exchange of data among national and international stakeholders, and be used as a good example for Mediterranean countries being at the beginning of EIS and ICAM development.

databases; conflicts; ICAM; indicators; mariculture; Croatia

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