Protected Areas as a Factor in Sustainable Development of the Croatian Islands - the Example of Mljet Island

Abstract

U radu se istražuje uloga Nacionalnog parka "Mljet" i razvoja turizma na populacijske, gospodarske i promjene okoliša cijelog otoka radi procjene njihova utjecaja na održivi razvoj. Na temelju analize statističkih podataka, terenskog istraživanja te intervjua s lokalnim stanovništvom i predstavnicima važnijih institucija odabrani su indikatori kojima su utvrđeni glavni procesi na Mljetu i ocijenjen stupanj populacijske i gospodarske održivosti te održivosti okoliša. Istraživanje je pokazalo da je NP "Mljet" potaknuo razvoj turizma i socioekonomsko prestrukturiranje stanovništva Mljeta te doveo do koncentracije gospodarskih djelatnosti na području Parka. Naglasak na turizmu, a posebno na ljetnome odmorišnom turizmu, imao je za posljedicu zanemarivanje ostalih gospodarskih djelatnosti i unatoč pozitivnom djelovanju na usporavanje depopulacije rezultirao je povećanjem razlika između depopulacijskih unutrašnjih naselja sa slabo razvijenim turizmom, izrazito progresivnih obalnih naselja s razvijenim turizmom, ugroženih degradacijom okoliša zbog prekomjerne izgradnje, te demografski stabilnijih naselja unutar NP-a "Mljet" izuzetno ovisnih o turizmu. Ključne riječi: zaštićena područja, održivi razvoj, turizam, demografske promjene, Mljet Protected Areas as a Factor in Sustainable Development of the Croatian Islands-the Example of Mljet Island The study analyses the role of the Mljet National Park and tourism under the demographic, economic and environmental changes on Mljet Island in order to estimate their implications for sustainable development. Key indicators have been determined according to statistical data, a field survey and interviews with local inhabitants and representatives of important institutions. Crucial processes have been identified on that basis and the level of the social, economic and environmental sustainability has been evaluated. The research pointed out that the founding of the Mljet National Park encouraged the development of tourism and the socioeconomic transformation of the island's population and resulted in the tertiary activities grouped within the Park. Emphasis on the tourism development with the focus on summer vacation tourism has resulted in setting aside non-tourism activities and, despite the positive effects in reducing total depopulation, it has amplified the discrepancy between the depopulating settlements in the island interior with insufficient tourism development, the extremely progressive coastal settlements with developed tourism, endangered by the rapid degradation of the environment caused by excessive construction work, and the demographically more stable settlements within the National Park, exceptionally dependent on tourism.

Challenges of tourism development in protected areas of Croatia and Slovenia

“…Most of them worked in traditional labour-intensive agriculture, and the island was marked by agricultural overpopulation. In the 1960s, there was a mass exodus from agriculture and the island, as people left for work in Yugoslavia's blossoming industrial centres (Stražičić, 1969;Šulc and Valjak, 2012). As tourism on the island was in its infancy, it could not absorb the entire workforce (Šulc and Valjak, 2012) and other economic activities were almost non-existant.…”

“…Interior settlements lost two-thirds of their population due to complete deagrarisation, which was not substituted by other economic activities. Having no working opportunities, the younger population was forced to leave and some of them saw tourism in coastal settlements as a potential source of income (Šulc and Valjak, 2012). Hence, the population in coastal settlements increased by over threefold.…”

“…Tourism development, starting in the 1970s, encouraged the transformation of existing objects and the construction of new ones as rental accommodation for tourists. This was perhaps sufficient to keep more of the local population on the island (Šulc and Valjak, 2012), but it was certainly not enough to attract potential migrants from the mainland. During the same period, the population of the Park decreased by 18%, due to less intensive in-migration, associated with limited building permits, which, on the other hand, spared that area from over-construction (Šulc and Valjak, 2012).…”

Distorted Life Cycle on Post-Socialist Adriatic Islands: Using the Example of Mljet, Croatia

“…Mljet (area: 92.02 km 2 ) functionally gravitates toward Dubrovnik (only 40 km away) and it is connected by ferry and boat lines to Dubrovnik, to the ferry port Prapratno on Pelješac Peninsula, Split, Korčula and Lastovo Island (Duplančić Leder et al, 2004;Šulc and Valjak, 2012). The population of 1088 inhabitants (in 2011) lives in 14 small settlements, nine of them located on or near the coast (from west to east: Pomena, Goveđari, Polače, Kozarica, Ropa, Sobra, Prožurska Luka, Okuklje, Saplunara) and fi ve in the island's interior (Blato, Babino Polje, Prožura, Maranovići, Korita) ( Figure 2).…”

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

“…It is quite literally an island community, and exploring the possibilities for sustainable development on Ilovik has weight in the larger discourse of sustainability. Presently, Ilovik is facing many of the issues other small islands, as well as Croatia itself faces: depopulation, an aging population, and an unhealthy economy (Faričić, Graovac and Čuka, 2010;Lajić, 2005;Lončar and Maradin, 2009;Starc, 2001; Šulc and Valjak, 2012). While in the past Ilovik was self-sustaining through agriculture and fishing, its current economy depends primarily on tourism.…”