EU Environmental approximation in the WB and Turkey- ETNAR Conference

1. Palic, September 24th to 26th 2013 EU Environmental approximation in the WB and Turkey- ETNAR Conference Natural resources policy analysis in Croatia Hrvoje Radovanović, Marko Košak Zelena akcija / FoE Croatia

2. Legal framework

3. Legal framework Nature Protection Act still isn’t harmonised with the EU Habitats Directive; The Water Act still isn’t in compliance with the EU Water Framework Directive; also, some terms used in the Act are not defined, and some of them need additional clarification so future versatile interpretation can be avoid; sediment extraction from riverbeds is still favoured which will lead inevitably to further deterioration of river ecosystems in Croatia implementation of all acts linked to the natural resources has still not reached the European level

4. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas From the aspect of biodiversity, Croatia is one of the richest European countries Large number of endemic species The number of known species is around 38,000, while the estimated number is from 50,000 to more than 100,000.

5. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas Despite the high biodiversity of Croatia, many of its components are threatened The red list of threatened species lists 2,235 threatened taxa The greatest threats to wild species in Croatia include: the destruction and loss of habitat , habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, tourism, intensive agriculture, pollution of water, soil and air, and the introduction of alien species.

6. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas Forests and forest land cover 47.5% of Croatian territory (2.688.687 ha) Wery well preserved and natural in composition 81% of forests are state-owned Majority of state-owned forests are managed by the public company Hrvatske šume (95.8%) Among the private owners small owners predominate (less than 100 ha)

7. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas Forests managed by Hrvatske šume are exploited sustainably (5,8 million m3 annual yield vs. 8 million m3 annual increment) Last year HŠ generated around 2.8 million EUR of profit 70% of raw materials are sold to domestic wood industry by way of long-term contracts, while the rest is sold through domestic and foreign bids.

8. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas The main threats to forests in Croatia are: pollution of air, soil and water, changes in water regime due to inadequate water-management activities, construction of roads through large forest complexes, forest fires, mines left after the last war (still some 48,000 ha of mine suspicious areas), different forest pests and plant diseases

9. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas A total of 420 protected areas Protected areas account for 8,19% of the total area of RH (11,61% of the terrestrial territory and 1,97% of territorial sea) The Nature Protection Act prescribes that all strict and special nature reseves, national, nature and regional parks and significant landscapes must have management plans Currently, management plans for 4 national parks and 3 nature parks have been adopted, those for 3 additional nature parks are in the process of public discussion, while those for further 4 national parks and 4 nature parks are in the process of being made

10. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas National ecological network was proclaimed in in October 2007 Croatia's National Ecological Network covers 47% of the terrestrial land area and 39% of the marine territory, in addition to two corridors: the sea turtle corridor and the Palagruža-Lastovo-Pelješac corridor (important for bird migrations)

11. Biodiversity, Forestsand Protected areas SINP has drafted the proposal for Natura 2000 network in Croatia The presence of 222 Natura 2000 species and 73 habitat types was determined, including some priority species such as the wolf, brown bear, sea ​​turtles, adriatic sturgeon and the olm Croatia has requested for amendments of Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive for certain species and habitat types which are specific for Croatia and neighbouring countries

12. Agriculture • Agricultural land: 23,43% (13260,83 km2) of land area Land use in Croatia, 2012

13. Organic farms:2,42% (320,36km2) of agricultural land • Networks of organic farmers:Croatian organic farmers association, Dalmatian organic farmers association “DALMACIJA EKO”, Istrian organic farmers association “Istrian eko-product”, “Ecologica” Zagreb, “Eko Liburnia” Rijeka etc. GMO legislation and limitation: Act on Genetically Modified Organisms (2005); limit imports of food containing genetically modified organisms Number of organic farms by counties in Croatia, 2008

14. FreshwatersandSea • Major riverbasins: Adriatic (38%, BlackSea (62%) • Rivers: Sava(23 243 km2), Kupa(10 032 km2), Drava 6 038(km2), Lonja-Trebeš(5 944 km2)etc. • Lakes: Vransko(30,7 km2), Dubravsko(17,1 km2) Peruča (artificial)(13,0 km2) etc. • Wetlands: Lonjsko polje(506,5 km2), Kopački rit (177 km2) etc. • WFD incorrelationwithnationallegislation: • EU-TwinningProject “Building andDevelopmentofGuidelines for theImplementationofWater Framework Directive” withGermanyandNetherlands • TheWaterActstillisn’t incompliancewiththe EU Water Framework Directive; f.e. sediment extraction from riverbeds is still allowed which will lead inevitably to further deterioration of river ecosystems in Croatia • RiverBasinmanagementplans: wereintegratedindocument “Building andDevelopmentofGuidelines for theImplementationofWater Framework Directive”

15. Firms for bottled water: Jamnica,Prima,Podravka • Total production of bottled water: about 360 millionliters of waterannually • Importedbottledwater: about19 millionlitersofbottledwaterannually; main import partners: BosniaandHerzegovina (95%), Slovenia, Italy, France, Hungary • Exportedbottledwater: about 25 millionsliters of bottled waterannually (Jamnica 90%); main export partners: Bosnia and Herzegovina (about 70%), Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, USA, Romania • How drinkable is water: • Among 188 countriesonlyNorwayandIcelandare richerwithwatersuppliesthanCroatia • Croatia has 32 818 cubicmetersofannualrenewablefreshwaterpercapitaand is one ofthe 30 richestcountriesintheworld • Croatia is amongthefewcountriesthatguaranteeand provide drinkingwater to itscitizensviapublicwatersupply • About 80 percentofthepopulationhasaccess to waterfrompublicwatersupply • Croatia providesabout 90 percentofwaterfromgroundwatersupplies

16. Total seaarea: 31 067 km2 • % ofprotected marine area: 3,9% (1 211,06 km2) Major problems: • fishery: - the protected fishing zone problem (illegal activities under no control) - excessivefishing (especiallyofsmallpelagicfish) - renewalofthefleet, which is oldandunsuitable • industry: - saltindustry - misunderstandingofstateinstitutions (no subvetions) • shipbuilding: - overdue, insolvent, unprofitable, with no plan for restructuring - import of raw materials - poorqualityandunskilledlabor • tourism: - strongseasonalconcentrationoftourismtraffic - illegalconstruciton

17. Case study NATURE PROTECTION ACT • adoptedwithminimalpossibilityofpublicparticipation Some crucialobjections: • Ecologicalnetwork Natura 2000 covers a muchsmallerareaoftheterritorythantheecologicalnetwork, whichmeansthatmanyareasofnationalimportance are going to beexcludedfromthe procedure ofimpactassessmentofstrategies, plans, programsandprojects.

18. 2. Management of economic activities in protected areas The new Act doesn’t define clear legal mechanism for regulation of commercial fisheries and management of marine resources in protected areas. 3. Public participation If public participation is defined in the Act during the main assessment in the Ecological network impact assessment, than it also needs to be defined during the screening of the Ecological network, what the new Act doesn’t define. 4. The Nature Protection Act doesn’t deal with ICCA areas ("Indigenous peoples' conserved territories and community conserved areas" - areas preserved by the efforts of indigenous peoples and communities)