Demographic Challenges to Sustainability of Small Adriatic Islands: the Case Study of Ilovik, Croatia

Abstract

The traditional way of life on small islands throughout the word is in danger. This paper, a case study of Ilovik, one particular small island in the Adriatic Sea, examines how negative demographic trends impact socio-economic and environmental processes and present special challenges to planning and implementing sustainable development. The primary research was conducted by collecting survey responses from the island's residents for two weeks in mid-June of 2011 on their current socioeconomic status, the natural environment, the residents' and vacation home owners' perception of tourism, the government's impact on socio-economic change, and the perception of the influence of the EU on future development. The results were analyzed and compared with the official data from government sources (censuses and live statistics). The analysis was performed with the central goal of examining the current sustainability of Ilovik and providing an understanding of its future fragile development perspectives which would depend on the population recovery and further increase of employment opportunities, always bearing in mind the delicate ecosystem and the unique cultural heritage of the small island.

Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia

“…Furthermore, tourism urbanisation has been dominated by new construction or reconstruction of private houses with apartments and rooms available for rent to tourists, while there were relatively few hotels (Šulc, 2016; 2019). These processes spread from the mainland to the islands later, and caused severe transformations in some small island communities (See: Starc, 2001;Faričić et al, 2010;Šulc and Zlatić, 2014;Šulc, 2016). Only protected areas in the coastal zone, with stricter regulation regimes, remained partially spared from unplanned and chaotic tourism construction.…”

Tourism in protected areas and the transformation of Mljet island, Croatia

“…Furthermore, tourism urbanisation has been dominated by new construction or reconstruction of private houses with apartments and rooms available for rent to tourists, while there were relatively few hotels (Šulc, 2016; 2019). These processes spread from the mainland to the islands later, and caused severe transformations in some small island communities (See: Starc, 2001;Faričić et al, 2010;Šulc and Zlatić, 2014;Šulc, 2016). Only protected areas in the coastal zone, with stricter regulation regimes, remained partially spared from unplanned and chaotic tourism construction.…”