October the 29th, 2024 – It seems the words “Croatia” and “national park” go hand in hand, but there are plenty of places nationwide that cause jaws to drop with sheer natural beauty that aren’t included on the list. Why, for example, is gorgeous Kamenjak not a Croatian national park?
As Morski writes, it all began half a decade ago in the unassuming location of a local cafe in Premantura. After discussing the fact that the coast and forests of the Municipality of Medulin have been devastated by endless illegal construction, and that nobody really seems to care all that much, someone posed a very legitimate question – why is Kamenjak not a nature park?
Beautiful Cape Kamenjak is a protected area and certainly boasts all the beauty one could ever imagine, and yet… it isn’t a nature park. It most definitely isn’t a Croatian national park, either. It has all the characteristics for the granting of such a status, and yet there’s no such title attributed to it.
Of the eight stunning Croatian National Parks and (currently) 11 Nature Parks, Cape Kamenjak should by all accounts sit at the very top. During the height of the scorching summer tourists season, thousands of cars from across Europe enter Kamenjak on a daily basis (with tickets). There are sometimes over three thousand vehicles which means that it is among the most visited destinations in all of Croatia, at least according to Saša Radović, the coordinator of the Premantura Civic Initiative.
Cape Kamenjak is the southernmost part of the Istrian peninsula, Croatia’s largest peninsula of all. With a beautiful and deeply indented coastline, 30 astonishing bays and 11 uninhabited islets that make up its archipelago, it is a “must visit” destination for many.
Kamenjak, much like the rest of Istria, has a beautiful (if sometimes a bit too hot) Mediterranean climate. 600 species of mostly medicinal and aromatic plants grow wild there, including thirty species of incredible orchids. 13 species are strictly protected, and two are endemic, found only on Kamenjak. The fauna there is also extremely rich; 50 species of butterflies, numerous species of reptiles, amphibians and birds dominate the landscape. Algae, shellfish, fish and strictly protected Mediterranean fur seals, seahorses and more live in the seabed of Cape Kamenjak, and yet… it still isn’t a Croatian national park.
On Kamenjak itself, as well as on the islet of Fenoliga, there’s also a fascinating geological legacy in the form of about a hundred dinosaur footprints! It begs the question – where on Earth could be more deserving of the “national park” or at least the “nature park” title than this incredible location?
“At the meeting of our Civic Initiatives, after the discussion in the cafe, that same legitimate question was repeated – why is Kamenjak not a Croatian national park?
Anna, one of the participants, raised her hand: “Illegal construction, an ugly, cramped settlement, a favela along a protected coastal area. It’s fenced off with wire, with forbidden entry to other people. There’s your answer. That’s why Kamenjak isn’t a Croatian national park, and it’s a huge shame for all of us. Nobody, not even the police, knows who actually lives there, they could be petty criminals or Al-Qaeda terrorists. Thousands of tourists from all over the world come and photograph that favela on Cape Kamenjak, as it sticks out like a sore thumb and even looks similar to the poverty-stricken settlements in South America”.
Five years have passed since that discussion.
In addition to the unfortunate favela-style on Kamenjak, new allegedly illegal settlements have spread near Medulin. People protested on the streets of Pula and published many letters to the competent institutions, the Government, DORH, the State Inspectorate and a large e-mail list, the media, members of parliament, parties, officials and others.
People filmed questionable settlements along the coast of Medulin with a drone and the video is still on YouTube. The Municipality of Medulin was urged to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee, and insist on the suppression of this construction with the competent institutions. Tragically, it seems all of this was done in vain.
A long time ago, the inspectorate put up signs in the municipality prohibiting construction, but the signs immediately “disappear”, and buildings continue to pop up like weeds.
There appears to be a degree of guilt there, but is the Municipality of Medulin entirely to blame for the fact that Kamenjak doesn’t boast the title of a Croatian national park?
Just over twenty years ago, back in in May 2004, the Kamenjak Public Institution was founded for the management of protected natural value in the area of the Municipality of Medulin – Kamenjak. According to the Statute (articles 2 and 3), the institution’s duty is to protect, maintain and promote protected areas and said natural value. It has been alleged that the Kamenjak Public Institution “failed to even lift a finger” regarding illegal construction as the biggest destroyer of natural resources, especially in Kamenjak.
It has been alleged that they have turned a blind eye to the tragic stumps of illegally cut century-old pine trees, all kinds of rubbish that hasn’t been properly removed from these bizarre favela-type settlements, and even potentially dangerous faecal matter that either ends up in the sea or poisons the soil.
Regardless of these issues, people who want to see Kamenjak protected continue to volunteer their time and effort. The Premantura Civic Initiative is still begging the powers that be in Croatia to start implementing the laws, because it is obliged to do so according to the Constitution.
