On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the protest for the protection of Marjan, the project “Responsible for Nature” has been presented on the “First Water”, with the goal of including better management of our “green lungs” of the city. The project was approved under the EU Competition “Strengthening Local Partnerships for Open Government and Combating Corruption in Responsible Resource Management”.

“This competition shows how the EU has recognized problems in managing the protected areas of Croatia. Among many problems, there are illegal construction and poor management, bad managing and maintenance of protected areas of nature and they are also present in the Marjan Forest Park, the most valuable natural asset of the city of Split, “said Duška Boban from the Marjan Society.

The “Responsible for Nature” project aims to increase the level of transparency and efficiency in the management of natural resources in Croatia. Activities are focused on protected areas of Croatia, with emphasis on Marjan Forest Park. This will lead to an analysis of the Marjan FP ecosystem service, to make an estimate of the state of the forest and to conduct public research.

“Citizens will find out what is actually the value of Marjan in terms of his contribution to raising the quality of life of citizens, air purity, recreational-tourist and cultural value and how much the city and citizens of Split lose by reducing the green areas of Marjan,” said Gabrijela Medunić-Orlić, project manager from the Association Sunce.

Also, the management effectiveness of Marjan’s management will be assessed and recommendations for improvement will be evaluated.

“It is a great coincidence that the Marjan Forest Park Public Administration Center is starting to develop the Marjan Sustainable Development Strategy, which will also contain the legally binding document of the Marjan FP Management Plan. This will contribute to the development of a ten-year document and will be an incentive to apply the principles and good practices of public participation in the development of such plans, “said Srđan Marinić, President of Marjan Society.

The project leader responsible for Nature is the Sunce Association and the partners of the project are the Marjan Society, the Faculty of Economics from Split and the BIOM Association from Zagreb. The project will include the students of the Faculty of Economics and Law, which through projected social benefit learning programs and volunteering will participate in project activities.