NATURA 2000

About Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is an ecological network composed of areas important for the conservation of endangered species and habitat types of the European Union. Its goal is to preserve or re-establish the suitable status of more than a thousand endangered and rare species and about 230 natural and semi-natural habitat types. So far, around 27,500 areas have been included in this ecological network of almost 20% of EU territory, making it the largest system of preserved areas in the world. Natura 2000 is based on EU directives, areas are selected by scientific standards, and in the management of these areas, the interest and benefit of the people living in them is taken into account.

Although much changed in human activity, European nature includes a very large variety of habitats. Spacious natural forests, meadows and pastures, wetlands and unregulated rivers, seas, underground and other habitats inhabited by many species still represent Europe's rich natural heritage. Many of these habitats are the result of traditional ways of using space, which does not endanger but rather enrich the biodiversity. Over the last decades, human activity and the use of natural resources have changed considerably throughout the world. The state of biodiversity has dramatically deteriorated over the last 50 years, more than through the whole history of mankind. Because of human activities, species are extinct 1000 times faster than in natural circumstances. These losses overshadowed the productivity of nature and thus jeopardized the long-term survival of mankind. More than 700 species, mostly birds and mammals, are listed in the Red List of species threatened with extinction in Europe. Only rare or endemic species are endangered, but many species that are still numerous, but their habitats are rapidly disappearing, which can lead to their immediate extinction. Natura 2000 is the fundamental program that the European Union is trying to stop these negative trends in its territory (HAOP, 2017).

The ecological network of the Republic of Croatia, which is also considered Natura 2000. The ecological network of the Republic of Croatia encompasses 36.73% of the land territory and 15.42% of the coastal sea (NN 124/13 and 105/15).

The active removal of marine litter within the ML-repair project will include 5 cities, 2 in Italy and 3 in Croatia, and will provide useful information that will help assess the feasibility of future removal actions to improve the site's environmental status.