{"id":32032,"date":"2025-05-07T15:14:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/?p=32032"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:08:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:08:28","slug":"environmental-action-rezolucija-zemlja-at-the-neretva-river-estuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/news\/environmental-action-rezolucija-zemlja-at-the-neretva-river-estuary\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental action Rezolucija Zemlja at the mouth of the Neretva River"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

154 kg of waste removed from nature on Earth Day<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On April 26, 2025, to mark Earth Day, a large-scale environmental clean-up took place at the mouth of the Neretva River. The action was organized as part of Rezolucija Zemlja<\/strong>, a national initiative led by Ve\u010dernji list. Alongside Sunce, the clean-up brought together the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Natural Areas of Dubrovnik-Neretva County<\/strong>, Kiteboarding Komin \u2013 Neretva<\/strong>, the hospitality venue Adelante<\/strong>, Youth association Kolektiv<\/strong>, Sunce\u2019s TA\u010c volunteers<\/strong>, and members of the local community. Working together, volunteers collected 154 kilograms of waste<\/strong>, removing it from this ecologically valuable natural area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 I pulled an electric scooter out of nature! It\u2019s shocking how irresponsible people can be, leaving such things behind as someone else\u2019s problem. This is a place to enjoy nature, and common sense says that whatever you bring with you, you should also take back, \u2013 said Ivona \u0160uman<\/strong> from Adelante, located at the river mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 It makes me sad to see so much plastic that has already started breaking down and it\u2019s incredibly difficult to even collect it. You can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been in the environment so long that it\u2019s disintegrating, and no one removed it, \u2013 emphasized Martina Soldo<\/strong> from Sunce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Launched in 2021, Rezolucija Zemlja<\/strong> is one of the largest environmental movements in Croatia. Its goal is to mobilize as many volunteers as possible, systematically clean up the environment, and raise awareness about ecological responsibility. However, clean-up actions alone are not enough. Real change comes from reducing waste generation, acting responsibly toward nature, and permanently adopting sustainable habits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waste monitoring for scientific use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to removing litter, the action at the Neretva river mouth also had an important advocacy component. TA\u010c volunteers conducted waste monitoring in line with the standardized Marine Litter Monitoring Protocol<\/a> for beaches<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Along a 100-meter stretch, a total of 154 kilograms of litter<\/strong> was collected. The data gathered will be submitted to relevant scientific and research institutions<\/strong>, giving the action long-term value in tracking pollution trends and developing solutions based on real data, \u2013 said Dalka Zanki<\/strong>, an expert associate at Sunce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2013 We always enjoy coming to the Neretva river mouth, but the amount of plastic the river carries is truly alarming. The situation is far from harmless. The Neretva is among the thousand most polluted rivers in the world. That\u2019s why monitoring waste<\/strong> according to the Marine Litter Monitoring Protocol<\/strong> is so important. We also implement a simplified protocol during our actions and send the data to the Institute. This approach allows for a better understanding of the challenges on the ground. We\u2019ve followed Sunce\u2019s work for some time because one of our members, Ana, volunteered with Sunce, which is why we came to support this action. This Sunday, we\u2019ll be organizing a clean-up in the Kula Norinska area as well, \u2013 said Iva Rasto\u010di\u0107<\/strong> from Youth association<\/strong> Kolektiv<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A call to citizens: ‘Take with you what you brought’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The clean-up action at the mouth of the Neretva once again demonstrated the importance of cooperation between local communities, civil society organizations, institutions, and citizens. But for nature to remain clean, responsibility is needed from every individual, every day of the year, not just on Earth Day<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Neretva river mouth is one of Croatia\u2019s most valuable natural areas, rich in plant and animal life. At the same time, it faces significant pressure from river-borne waste<\/strong>, especially plastic. This action showed that the community has both the will and the interest to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2013 Each year there is slightly less waste, but the Neretva still brings it in. It would be good to develop a dedicated project focused specifically on the river. Until that happens, the least you can do is take your waste home with you<\/strong>, \u2013 emphasized Lovre \u0160uman <\/strong>from Kiteboarding Komin \u2013 Neretva<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 While every clean-up action matters, the real goal must be a world where there is simply no waste in nature. Prevention is stronger than repair. That\u2019s why we must all work together to reduce waste generation. Choose reusable products, avoid single-use plastics, repair instead of discard. Nature is not a landfill, it is our partner in building a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable future, \u2013 concluded Zanki<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Rezolucija Zemlja environmental action brought together volunteers at the Neretva River estuary, where 154 kg of waste was removed to mark Earth Day 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":31999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1172,1052,44,784],"class_list":["post-32032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-clean-up-action-2","tag-marine-litter","tag-monitoring","tag-rezolucija-zemlja"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32032"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32032\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37396,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32032\/revisions\/37396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sunce-st.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}