Sussana Kari of the UNESCO Secretariat and Pierre Galland of the IUCN met with officials from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy, the Ministry of Construction and Physical Planning, the Croatian Environment and Nature Agency, the Croatian Institute for Physical Planning, the Ministry of Tourism, the Hrvatske Vode water management company and the Plitvice Lakes National Park public institution.
The meeting was presented with an overview of the situation and problems faced by the national park, including a large number of visitors, problems relating to physical planning and the issuing of building permits, inspections, water supply and drainage, according to the press release.
The reactive monitoring mission has been invited by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy aware of the problems posed by the large number of visitors and increased construction. The ministry, acting in cooperation with other bodies, will prepare an action plan to deal with the problems observed for each sector -- physical planning and construction, environmental protection and water management, and will take the necessary steps to resolve these problems in accordance with UNESCO's recommendations.
The main objective is to ensure effective protection and conservation of Plitvice Lakes National Park through improved visitor management and increased construction control so that the pressure of tourist activity would not threaten the natural values for which the park has been included on UNESCO's World Heritage List.