The survey was commissioned by the Economy and Sustainable Development Ministry (MINGOR) and carried out by the Hendal agency on a sample of 800 respondents from the entire country, following the completion of the MINGOR campaign "Listen to the voice of nature".
A total of 81.3 percent of the respondents support the establishment of areas without the use of natural resources,
while only 6.4 percent do not support it.
Nature protection as an opportunity for economic growth
More than half of the respondents (52.7 percent) believe that preserved nature is Croatia's greatest asset.. Accordingly, the largest share (65.4 percent) of them consider nature protection to be an opportunity for economic growth. Only 13.6 percent of the respondents see this protection as something that slows it down or believe that it does not affect it (15.1 percent).
The largest share of the respondents (51.7 percent) believe that devastating nature in protected areas and areas of the Natura 2000 ecological network is acceptable only when it comes to projects of great public interest and with full compensation for the damage caused.
A total of 37 percent of the respondents believe that devastating nature should be completely prohibited, while less than six percent believe that such activities are acceptable because the economic development is a priority.