Croatia

Croatia is a largely mountainous country with terrestrial and marine areas of over 56 000 km². It consists of the Slavonia lowlands in the and the coastal Dinaric Alps, with several hundred islands and islets in the Adriatic Sea. It is bordered by 5 other countries. The highest point is Dinara at 1831m. Croatia has a population of 4 million people and a population density of 73.2 people per km².

Protected areas

There are a total of   protected areas in Croatia,   Natura 2000 sites -   Special Protection Areas (Birds Directive) and   Sites of Community Importance (Habitat Directive) - as well as   sites designated under national laws.

The average size of protected areas in Europe is lower compared to other regions of the world. This largely reflects the high degree of fragmentation of the land in Europe due to urbanisation, infrastructure and general intensification of land use. At a EU level 50% of protected areas have an area of less than 1 km². The 10 largest marine sites account for 68% of the marine area, while the 10 largest land sites account for 41% of the land area covered by protected areas

Natura 2000 sites in Croatia cover   species and   habitats from the nature directives. The number of species and habitats protected in each site varies depending on the location of the site, the biodiversity in the region, the designation being used, and the features the site is being created to protect. For   sites there is only 1 feature being protected with   sites having more than 20 features.

Protected species

Species protected in Croatia under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive and under the Birds Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 2 500 species on its list, the Birds Directive has a total of 500 species of wild birds protected.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of species are considered to be Good

 % of species are considered to be Poor

 % of species are considered to be Bad

 % of species are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Taxa

Protected species composition by Taxa

Protected habitats

Habitats protected in Croatia under EU law are protected under the Habitats Directive. The Habitats Directive has a total of 233 habitats on its list.

  habitats protected under EU law in Croatia.

Conservation status: Habitats Directive

 % of habitats are considered to be Good

 % of habitats are considered to be Poor

 % of habitats are considered to be Bad

 % of habitats are considered to be Unknown

Conservation Status by Group

Habitat composition by Group

Ecosystems

Policy

MAES in Croatia:

The first study on mapping and evaluation of ecosystems on the national level was made in 2015 through the project "Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services in Croatia".  Read more

Green infrastructure in Croatia:

The Strategy and Action Plan for the Protection of Biological and Landscape diversity of the Republic of Croatia (NBSAP) (OG 143/08) (Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection) is the fundamental document for nature protection, laying down long-term objectives and guidelines for the conservation of biological and landscape diversity and protected natural values, and methods for implementation thereof, in accordance with the overall economic, social and cultural development of the Republic of Croatia.

National Biodiversity strategy for Croatia:

To report on progress to the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy, the European Commission extracted relevant information from the EU Member States’ 5^th national reports to the CBD. Of the 5 countries which had not finalized their national reports at the time of the synthesis (26^th of August 2015), Greece, Malta, Portugal and Lithuania provided information to be included in the synthesis.

The 5^th national reports were examined, and relevant information on selected actions under Targets 1-6 of the EU biodiversity strategy was directly copied. Thus, the information presented here is in the original language and wording of the 5^th national reports.

The focus was on information that is particular to the respective Member State rather than referencing EU wide information. In addition, only information that is not directly reported to the European Commission by Member States was retrieved from the reports. Each Member State had the opportunity to review the synthesis of its report and to provide additional input. For more information, please view here. The 5^th national report for Croatia can be downloaded here.