WORLD BANK GRANTS CROATIA LOAN FOR PROTECTION OF COASTAL FORESTS

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Hina) - The World Bank on Wednesday granted Croatia a USD 42 million loan for the revival and protection of coastal forests, the bank said in a statement. The project is aimed at reafforesting and protecting the wooded areas of the Dalmatian coast to help the tourist industry return to prewar levels. It will also address the problem of forest fires which pose a main threat to Croatia's Adriatic coast. The project provides USD 4 million for revival of forests, 34.4 million for protection against fire and 3.6 million for ancillary activities. The project aims to reafforest about 5,800 hectares of land in the areas of Senj, Zadar, Sibenik, Split and Dubrovnik. Since its admission to the World Bank, Croatia has been approved about USD 450 million in loans for nine projects. (hina) vm mm 121238 MET dec 96