First published on 01/23/2014, and last updated on 01/23/2018
By: Iris Beneš, Regional Coordinator for Northern, Central and Eastern Europe
In Croatia the rare ICCAs cases that can still be identified are those of rather ancient communal land that, after World War II, managed to escape pervasive State control and continued to exercise their common rights de facto. People living in such areas are in need of legal, organizational and financial support. The sporadic engagement of civil society organisations can only provide temporary relief for some burning issues. A glimpse of a positive policy evolution was seen in 2011 with the introduction of participatory management and the so–called Pasturing Communities (PCs) model. Unfortunately, the newest Agricultural Land Act, approved early in 2013, does not favour any community conservation modality and actually abolishes the legal figure of Pasturing Communities all together!
Several laws, programs, local strategies and action plans important for ICCAs management are currently under discussion in Croatia, a country which will become the 28th European Union State in July 2013. Two main acts reached Parliamentary procedures after a long and non-transparent path through various Ministries. The new Nature Protection Act has not offered legal grounds for ICCA sites in spite of the supportive comments made by Green forum, a network of 42 NGOs in Croatia. Another important piece of legislation is the draft Law on Strategic Investment Projects, which was produced through a eight-day (!) public consultation process and urgent procedure in the Parliament. The Ministry of Economy justified the preparation of the new Law with the “need to urgently launch a new investment cycle as main stimulus for growth and development of the national economy”. Numerous groups from civil society, unions, and even Catholic Church warned that the real goal of the Law is to clear the ground for grand civil construction projects, regardless of the ultimate cost to the natural and cultural wealth of the country. The Law on Strategic Investment Projects undoubtedly ensures a short-cut for exploitation of natural resources in Croatia… it actually eliminates all distinctions between private and public domains and seeks to monetize the public domain altogether. It is very likely that the economic crisis and the short-sighted political decisions that go with that will sign the death sentence of what is left of public domains and community conserved areas in Croatia.
