Burden of the Coastal Area with Solid Waste in Kornati National Park (Croatia)

Abstract

The problem of waste disposal in the Kornati archipelago is clearly an issue of hidden geography since it is often neglected in the scientific literature and media alike. This paper summarises a realised joint preparation of the methodology for the inventory of solid waste in the coastal zone. The methodology was used and tested for the inventory of solid waste in Kornati National Park which encompasses a large part of the Kornati archipelago located in the central part of the Croatian Adriatic coast. Inventory of solid waste is the first and crucial step in the management of this often-overlooked issue. Approximately two-thirds of the land and the waters of the Kornati archipelago (217 km²) in Central Dalmatia were proclaimed as a national park in 1980. It is a place of exceptional natural values, cultural heritage and occasional population, which is at the same time very attractive for visitors. The purpose of the National Park’s management plan for the area was to maintain high aesthetics of the landscape and the extremely rich marine ecosystem. The observed natural conditions (winds and currents) and socio-economic features (environmental pressures during the peak tourist season) are causing specific problems within the park in terms of waste pollution. Human activities and their influence seem to be concentrated in the coastal zone: (a) areas with (occasional) settlements and infrastructure intended for the predominant nautical tourism, and (b) uninhabited areas mostly with bays and coves accessible only from the sea. Data show different origins of the waste according to the country of their production: Croatia, Turkey, Albania, Poland, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Germany, France, Greece, Hungary and North Macedonia with prevailing household plastic waste and solid wood waste. Evidently, waste has not stopped accumulating there.