ZAGREB, Oct 15 (Hina) - The World Bank on Tuesday donated five million US dollars for a programme of preservation of the ecological system of the Karst in Lika and Gorski Kotar.
ZAGREB, Oct 15 (Hina) - The World Bank on Tuesday donated five
million US dollars for a programme of preservation of the
ecological system of the Karst in Lika and Gorski Kotar. #L#
The donation, which is the biggest donation given Croatia by
foreign institutions so far, will be used both for environmental
protection programmes as well as for stimulating economic
development in Lika and Gorski Kotar.
Environmental Protection and Zoning Minister Bozo Kovacevic said
the government would finance the project with an additional three
million US dollars.
The project covers an area of 8,000 square kilometres in Lika and
Gorski Kotar in a Karst region with many rare species and biological
and landscape varieties and considerable supplies of drinking
water.
The region includes four national parks - Plitvice, Risnjak,
Paklenica and North Velebit and the natural park of Mt. Velebit.
This is one of the most important environmental protection projects
and its main goal is to protect biological and landscape varieties.
The project will also help train local population for traditional
trades and create conditions for the environment-friendly tourism
and agriculture which are in accordance with the sustainable
development of the area.
Local residents interested in entrepreneurship will be offered
donations for businesses amounting to 2,000, 10,000 or 25,000
dollars per project, Minister Kovacevic said.
The World Bank director for south and central Europe, Andrew
Vorkink, said this deed of gift was twice the amount of all
donations given to Croatia in the past ten years.
Director Vorkink said the project has two important aspects and it
presented "a marriage between the nature and economic development
through the employment of local population" in line with
sustainable development in one of the poorest Croatian areas.
Vorkink described the environment in Croatia as the jewel of the
country and its people. He compared Croatia to Austria saying that
Austria was twice the size of Croatia, but Croatia had twice as many
natural species as Austria.
It will be important to include the experience to be obtained by
implementing this project into a future extended project of
protection of the sea from Istria to southern Dalmatia. The project
will be worth $250 million, of which the World Bank will offer 100
million to Croatia as a loan.
(hina) ms sb