EkoPartner – partner in environmental protection

The number of tourists and the number of beds in the Republic of Croatia grows year after year and tourism today is the most important economic activity of this country. In addition to the many positive effects of tourism, its development also has some negative aspects such as exaggerated construction and devastation of the area, especially the coast, crowds, water and electricity shortages during the tourist season, garbage problems and waste management, loss of habitat and some species.
Many of the problems listed are the problems of conventional tourism, which is the most common form of tourism in Croatia. Unlike conventional tourism, there is also a sustainable tourism that, besides profit, has environmental conservation, is environmentally sustainable and based on natural bases in areas of relatively untouched nature, includes education and awareness of the natural environment and contributes to the social and economic well-being of local communities.
In the pursuit of this kind of thinking, ecological associations Sunce from Split and Green Istria from Pula have designed EkoPartner, a program of environmentally responsible management of small tourist facilities in Croatia, where we want to encourage small tourist facilities and rural economies to introduce ecological practices in facilities.
EcoPartner is a system of environmental certification of small tourist facilities in Croatia. The criteria for membership in EkoPartner are based on two principles: basic environmental protection requirements and the additional measures that small tourist facilities can take immediately with no or low financial investment. There are 33 criteria divided into 8 categories: waste, water, energy, food, transport, noise, local values and education and communication. Criteria also take into account realistic constraints in many areas (undeveloped public infrastructure, underdeveloped waste collection system, etc.).
In recent months we held public lectures on which we promoted the EkoPartner program in the protected areas of the Nature Parks of Lastovo and Telašćica. In total, we have collected 20 landlords who have become Ekopartner who will improve their offerings in their apartments, reduce their operating costs while at the same time contributing to the protection of the environment and nature by building the image of an environmentally responsible tourist facility.
During the lecture, a presentation of the PREVAL water and energy products was held and subsidized all or part of the water-saving products to all registered landlords. Activities were carried out under the Small Grant Program under the SEA Med Project.
Within the project, the Sunce will hold two more lectures on Lastovo and Telašćica on the topic of energy savings and separate collection of waste with a focus on composting.
All interested renters on this occasion invite you to join EkoPartner and become our environmental partners. More about EkoPartner read here or contact us at [email protected]