WWF: News from nature 🌿🐼

• Did you see the Blue Panda in the Adriatic Sea?

WWF’s research sailboat, the Blue Panda, sailed the Adriatic Sea for a week, exploring the seabed near the Lastovo Islands Nature Park. Preliminary results of the study on fish population were presented to the park’s management and professional staff on their 17th birthday! Instead of a cake, unfortunately, they received the sobering reality of the adverse effects of climate change on our sea and its marine life. Nevertheless, these are just the initial results, and the more comprehensive findings are expected at the beginning of the next year.

• We have launched a hub for bioeconomy

Using natural materials, waste, or agricultural residues in new agricultural technologies and the development of innovative products are important aspects of combating climate change. One important way to mitigate the climate crisis is bioeconomy, an economy that relies on renewable biological resources. That’s why we have launched the hub for bioeconomy in Croatia, which will monitor the implementation of the Bioeconomy Strategy and encourage Central and Eastern European countries to develop their own bioeconomy strategies in line with European Union policies.

Find out more about it here.

• What do rowers and pandas have in common?

This year, you could follow the World Rowing Championships on Ada Ciganlija in Belgrade from September 3rd to 10th. WWF and the World Rowing, the international rowing federation, share a common goal – to protect freshwater ecosystems for the benefit of nature and people. We joined the rowers at Ada Ciganlija to support them and to discuss the importance of rivers, without which neither our rowers nor any of us could exist.

A delegation from WWF International also joined us at our stand, after they visited our amazing Amazon of Europe and other natural treasures of Serbia.

You can find out more about their experience here.

• The foresters from WWF amazed by Risnjak National Park

And while we’re on the topic of WWF’s international delegations, last month we were also visited by WWF’s global forest experts. They were captivated by our Risnjak National Park, as well as our forest management practices in Croatia.

Fortunately, our region is rich in forests, which is not the case in other parts of the world, and we should be thankful for that. Forests don’t just mean trees; they are also home to many living creatures that enrich our planet. Forest cover is of vital importance for the surrounding agricultural habitats, protecting against erosion and preserving the water regime. Furthermore, it’s one of the most significant economic resources.

We are honored to have celebrated the 70th birthday of the Risnjak National Park together.

• Can fishers keep being fishers?

At the end of the last month, we organized a roundtable where we heard answers to some of the most crucial questions regarding the protection of our seas in line with the future Environmental Protection Regulation. Does Croatia have the capacity to achieve ambitious plans such as protecting 30% of its marine areas? What do fishers think about this topic, and do we have the finances secured to achieve such protection? These are some of the questions addressed by the experts.

If you are interested in the answers to these questions, click here.

Thank you for reading and caring for nature Siniša, your contribution means the world to us!💚