{"id":38253,"date":"2026-05-05T13:36:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:36:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/?page_id=38253"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T11:36:12","slug":"the-medfund-support-for-the-establishment-of-a-marine-protected-area-in-the-pakleni-islands-archipelago","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/projects\/the-medfund-support-for-the-establishment-of-a-marine-protected-area-in-the-pakleni-islands-archipelago\/","title":{"rendered":"The MedFund \u2013 Support for the Establishment of a Marine Protected Area in the Pakleni Islands Archipelago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The project The MedFund \u2013 Support for the Establishment of a Marine Protected Area in the Pakleni Islands Archipelago<\/em> aims to implement integrated management activities that will reduce local pressures, strengthen management capacities, and provide support in the establishment of a future marine protected area in the marine area of the Pakleni Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pakleni Islands are located in the central part of the Adriatic Sea, within the administrative boundaries of the City of Hvar in the Split-Dalmatia County. The terrestrial part of the Pakleni Islands has been protected since 1968 as a significant landscape (IUCN Category V), while the surrounding sea has been designated as a Natura 2000 site (HR3000095 Pakleni otoci). The seabed of the Pakleni Islands hosts ecologically valuable habitats, including seagrass meadows (Posidonia), reefs, submerged or partially submerged marine caves, and sandy and muddy habitats that are important for the spawning and development of numerous marine species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, intensive tourism and nautical activities are exerting various pressures that degrade habitats and fish stocks in the archipelago, such as anchoring, which damages Posidonia meadows, increased amounts of solid waste, discharge of black and grey wastewater into the sea, and noise. In addition, climate change further threatens sensitive coralligenous reefs, which are exposed to heatwaves and mass mortality events affecting many species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these challenges, it is proposed to increase the level of protection of the marine area of the Pakleni Islands \u2013 currently designated under the Natura 2000 ecological network \u2013 to the category of significant landscape, along with the establishment of a special marine reserve within a smaller part of the archipelago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project activities include completing the designation process, monitoring the state of the marine environment, and strengthening the capacities of nature rangers and all stakeholders involved in managing this area. Special attention will be given to stakeholder engagement through meetings, workshops, and educational campaigns, to jointly design management approaches and raise awareness about the importance of preserving the biodiversity of the Pakleni Islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project will provide important data for future management and zoning of the marine area, including the identification of zones that require stricter protection. The focus is on three priority conservation targets: Posidonia seagrass meadows, reefs, and fish populations. The collected data will enable continuous monitoring of ecosystem conditions, as well as evaluation of the effectiveness of protection measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead Partner:<\/strong> Association for Nature, Environment and Sustainable Development Sunce<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Partner: <\/strong>Public Institution Sea and Karst<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Area: <\/strong>Pakleni Islands (Croatia)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total Project Budget: <\/strong>241 500 Euro (Sunce budget is 193 000 Euro)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project start date: <\/strong>17 March 2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project end date: <\/strong>17 March 2031<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Manager: <\/strong>Zrinka Jakl, MSc in Biology (e-mail: zrinka.jakl@sunce-st.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communications Manager: <\/strong>Bruna Tomi\u0107, MSc in Journalism and Public Relations (e-mail: bruna.perica@sunce-st.org)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The project The MedFund \u2013 Support for the Establishment of a Marine Protected Area in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":38249,"parent":3078,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38253","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38254,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38253\/revisions\/38254"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}