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All our efforts are aimed at preserving Croatia’s distinctive features

11.06.2021.

Representatives of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund took part in the 2-day conference of the INHERIT project on the topic of protection of the natural heritage, sustainable tourism activities, and the management of the INHERITURA sites, which was held in Brijuni National Park.
 
The director of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, Siniša Kukić, said that Brijuni was one of the best examples of how sustainable tourism and conservation of the natural heritage should be handled. “Since the tourism sector relies on the distinctive features of an area or region, it is only natural and logical to protect these specifies. Although the promotion of sustainable tourism is not the Fund’s primary activity, we are supporting this through several different activities. Our renovation programmes have made it possible to improve the quality of accommodation people offer, and through the programmes for the use of renewable energy sources we are promoting the use of green, environmentally friendly energy. We are supporting local waste management activities in many ways, one of which is by financing the transport of waste from the islands to the mainland, which is especially important during the summer season when the population on the islands grows significantly. We are constantly investing in projects contributing to the development and sustainability of our national parks and nature parks – from the visitor infrastructure to electric trains, boats, cars, and other vehicles with no harmful exhaust emissions or noise,“ said director Kukić.
 
Tourism on the Mediterranean has been developing rapidly in the last decades. As a result, the Mediterranean coastal and littoral heritage is under the pressures of intensive tourist flows that are growing year-on-year. Coastal areas are faced with seasonal overcapacity, too much building work, waste generation, depletion of resources, desertification, water scarcity and loss of biodiversity.
 
“The activities of the Fund are directed at financing the activities of conservation of the natural habitats and wild species in the ecological network NATURA 2000 and in the protected areas. To be more specific, in Brijuni National Park we have co-financed equipment and development of the  interpretation-education-visitor centre with 5 million kunas, and the development of the visitor infrastructure and tourist attractions with 4.5 million. There are also green vehicles and boats, which the Fund financed with 27 million, and many other smaller measures. Everything we’re doing in Croatia is aimed at preserving the many  distinctive qualities of our country, to make it an even higher quality tourism product,” explained the head of the department at the Fund Vesna Cetin Krnjević in her presentation.
 
INHERIT is the project under the Interreg MEDITERRANEAN (MED) Programme (a transnational European Cooperation Programme). The main objective of the Interreg MED Programme is to promote sustainable growth in the Mediterranean area by fostering innovative concepts and practices and a reasonable use of resources and by supporting social integration through an integrated and territorially based cooperation approach. 15 Partner States partners from 13 Mediterranean countries are participating in the INHERIT project.