The new app was launched at the Medvednica Nature Park near Zagreb this past Thursday.
The application has been created as part of the project "Strengthening the Institutional and Financial Sustainability of the National Protected Area System - PARCS". The project, launched by the Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy, was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Croatia and financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
The key features include interactive guides for all 19 Croatian national and nature parks: Brijuni, Kornati, Krka, Mljet, Risnjak, Plitvice Lakes, Northern Velebit and Paklenica national parks; and Kopacki Rit, Papuk, Lastovo Archipelago, Medvednica, Zumberak – Samoborsko Gorje, Ucka, Telascica, Lake Vrana, Velebit, Biokovo and Lonjsko Polje nature parks.
The new app has beacon Bluetooth technology, notifying users of nearby points of interest. It also has the ability to view and discover points of interest and routes on an interactive map, even in offline mode.
The app also has a wide-ranging list of attractions and activities for each park that can be explored and viewed on the map, such as hiking trails, bicycling routes, scuba diving locations, educational trails, rock climbing areas and much more.
It provides service information, including park contact info, available entrances and ticket sales points, online shops to buy park entry tickets that can be accessed directly from within the application, current news and events for each park.
The application also has a user experience sharing feature, so that visitors can share their photos, stories and experiences of the visited areas.
Another interesting feature is Park Protector, allowing visitors to report any misconduct in order to help park rangers and personnel with park maintenance.