{"id":26007,"date":"2024-05-31T09:24:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T07:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/?p=26007"},"modified":"2025-01-20T10:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:32:43","slug":"an-invisible-problem-that-causes-irreversible-damage-to-nature-environmentally-friendly-anchorages-are-one-of-the-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/news\/an-invisible-problem-that-causes-irreversible-damage-to-nature-environmentally-friendly-anchorages-are-one-of-the-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"An invisible problem that causes irreversible damage to nature: ecological moorings are one of the solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What do tourism and Posidonia have in common? Unfortunately, nothing, because while one flourishes, the other withers. Every summer, we witness the same scenario: the booming nautical tourism destroys the Posidonia seagrass meadows<\/strong>. Although the devastation of this marine plant is influenced by multiple factors, it appears that anchoring (a consequence of nautical tourism development) causes the greatest and most irreversible damage. As the anchor plows the seabed, it uproots and destroys this incredibly beneficial plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known as seagrass, scientists describe it as the lungs of the Mediterranean<\/strong> because Posidonia meadows convert carbon dioxide into oxygen more effectively than forests on land. However, despite its usefulness, human activity over the past few decades has reduced the area of Posidonia meadows in the Mediterranean by more than 30%. This is a significant problem because it takes a whole century for a single meadow to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"posidonija-kornati-posidonia-oceanica\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Croatian tourism sector is becoming increasingly aware of this issue. Thus, at its 27th assembly on April 29, 2024, the Assembly of the Split-Dalmatia County adopted the Conclusion on the adoption of the Anchorage Arrangement Plan of the Split-Dalmatia County<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 20, a presentation of the Anchorage Arrangement Plan of the Split-Dalmatia County was held at the Mediterranean Institute for Life Research (MedILS)<\/strong>. In addition to representatives of the Split-Dalmatia County<\/strong> as the ordering party, the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas in the Split-Dalmatia County Sea and Karst<\/strong> as the coordinator, and the company Obala d.o.o.<\/strong> as the plan developer, representatives of the Faculty of Maritime studies at the University of Split<\/strong>, the Association for Nature, Environment, and Sustainable Development Sunce<\/strong>, and maritime domain concessionaires<\/strong> were also present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategic document for the protection of Natura 2000<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anchorage Arrangement Plan of the Split-Dalmatia County provides binding parameters for the development of spatial plans on the level of municipalities and cities and the subsequent issuance of concessions for the economic use of nautical anchoring sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 The Anchorage Study and the Anchorage Arrangement Plan (which is based on the study) are, in a way, strategic documents that will allow us to protect our Natura 2000 sites in the most adequate manner for decades to come, \u2013 said Domagoj La\u017eeta, Director of the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas in the Split-Dalmatia County of Split and Dalmatia Sea and Karst <\/strong>, in his introductory speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"publika-govornica-predstavljanje-prezentacija\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 According to the Maritime Domain and Sea Ports Act that was enacted this year, an anchorage is defined as a part of the marine area designated for the anchoring or mooring of vessels, and it is divided into nautical and marine natural anchorages, \u2013 explained Maja Mustapi\u0107, a representative of the plan developer Obala d.o.o.<\/strong>, noting that the focus of the Plan is on nautical anchorages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"publika-govornica-predstavljanje-prezentacija\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ecological moorings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We must keep in mind that 45% of the areas suitable for anchoring, that we covered in the Study, are covered with Posidonia meadows. Therefore, nautical tourists and Posidonia favor the same locations. For this reason, permanent eco-moorings are an excellent solution, \u2013 added Jelena Kurtovi\u0107 Mr\u010deli\u0107 from the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas in the Split-Dalmatia County of Split and Dalmatia Sea and Karst<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are permanent systems where buoys are installed at each mooring site by drilling through sand and marine sediment into the bedrock. Given the nature of the installation, the impact on marine sediment is short-term and negligible. During the installation and subsequent use of the mooring, the entire mooring system does not come into contact with the plant cover, which is extremely important for the preservation of seagrasses. This is why <\/strong>such an anchoring system<\/strong><\/a> is more environmental friendly compared to the installation of concrete blocks.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 All of this is explained in detail in the study. About 60 pages are dedicated solely to ecological mooring systems, \u2013 said Kurtovi\u0107 Mr\u010deli\u0107, adding that based on this Plan, the complete documentation for mooring sites on the Pakleni Islands, where nautical tourism is most concentrated, will be developed over the next two years. The activities will be carried out as part of the BIOPRESSADRIA<\/a> project, co-financed by the European Union, with Sunce as one of the partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"publika-govornica-predstavljanje-prezentacija\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Sunce has been monitoring the status of Posidonia meadows for the last 15 years<\/strong>. Initially, we did this within marine national and nature parks, and over the years, we extended our monitoring to many other protected areas, including Natura 2000 sites. The Tela\u0161\u0107ica Nature Park has the longest-running monitoring and data over the last 15 years. It\u2019s conducted every two years. We have also worked very intensively on the protection of Posidonia meadows in Kornati as part of the SASPAS<\/a> project, and now we are continuing this work within the already mentioned BIOPRESSADRIA<\/a> project, \u2013 said Matea \u0160pika, senior associate in the Nature Protection Department at Sunce<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"matea-spika-govornica-mikrofon-plakat\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n