However, sometimes it is not possible to reduce all emissions generated by business, production or travel. When we fail to do so, and we have taken important steps to reduce emissions, the part that remains is exactly what we should compensate for. Emission compensation is then crucial and refers to all those concrete measures taken by us to reduce emissions. They can be expressed through the allocation of a certain amount of money for investment in projects that carry out restoration interventions in degraded habitats, projects that invest in nature-based solutions, tree planting projects – in a word, projects that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

When using a calculator to calculate carbon and ecological footprint, such as:

1.  Calculation of the carbon footprint for travel and accommodation (calculation for each mode of travel with various means of transport, for accommodation, activities, food) – click here 
2. Calculation of the ecological footprint (you will receive information on how many planets of the Earth are needed for your lifestyle and when your personal day of exceeding resources is) – click here
3. UN carbon footprint calculation (takes into account household, transport and lifestyle with a comparison of your personal emissions, the average for the country you come from and the world average) – click here

we can compensate the measured emissions by investing in projects that we find interesting and which are related to the above calculations. Above all, compensation alone without an active contribution to reducing emissions does not mean much.

The possibilities for participating in emission compensation are diverse, especially at the international level, while in Croatia we can highlight an interesting program that neutralizes the carbon footprint by planting trees – CO₂mpensating by planting, in which companies, cities, municipalities and all interested parties can participate through the described application steps.

Plitvice Lakes National Park and forest ecosystems

One of the important studies of forest ecosystems in the national park concerned the application of innovative methods in collecting spatial data from the air. This provided us with high-quality data on the proportion of trees, and the presence of 4,007,362 trees was calculated, with beech dominating with a share of 75%, fir with a share of 20%, and spruce with 4%. The growing stock on the entire Park`s surface amounts to 9,307,933 m³, and the estimated above-ground biomass for the national park of 330 t/ha is significantly above the value for Europe (120 ha/t). This data highlight the importance of forests in the global context, as well as their contribution to CO₂ sequestration. At the same time, the Plitvice forests ranked fourth in terms of sequestration of CO₂ from the atmosphere in the category of areas that include UNESCO World Natural Heritage.

Given that forests are key in the fight against climate change because they are important carbon sinks (1 ha of forest can remove up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide – CO₂), it is particularly important for the national park to leave forests to their natural development and logging is not allowed. In total, more than 3.8 million tons of carbon are stored in the growing stock of the Plitvice forests. With the development of the Forest Protection, Care and Restoration Program, an additional 942 ha of forest areas were identified that will remain permanently protected, and the share of the area under forests increased from 81% to 84%. A further project investing in the establishment of biomonitoring of forest growth and carbon storage was recognized as one of the good practice stories that aims to expand knowledge about biological and ecological processes in forest ecosystems, but also to bring forests closer to visitors in the context of climate change.

In addition to the obligation to conserve forest ecosystems, the national park certainly protects other habitats such as grasslands, peatlands and water ecosystems. Investments in the revitalization of grasslands and the prevention of succession on grassland surfaces are important steps in the permanent preservation of these habitats, which are also hotspots of biodiversity.

Plitvice Lakes National Park and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

Objava Carbon offsets pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

Given the topic of project activities related to climate change, the key lecture at this gathering was given by Prof. Dr. sc. Mirko Orlić from the University of Zagreb, presenting global trends in climate change and projections. Conservator from Trogir, Jasna Popović, gave a presentation on the UNESCO cultural heritage management, the topic of the impact of climate change on natural heritage using the example of the Plitvice Lakes National Park was presented by Maja Vurnek, an employee of the National Park Conservation Service. As the main activities in the work package 1 of the CAMPUS project are related to the development of vulnerability and multi-risk assessments for UNESCO sites, representatives of the University of Venice, Silvia Zannin and Federica Parlato, presented the results so far for the areas included in the project. Risk maps of cities and modelling for Trogir and Stari Grad on Hvar were presented by Ivan Carević, along with the results of surveys conducted with residents regarding their experiences with climate change. From the Ministry of Culture and Media, Petra Smajić gave a lecture on the topic of risk management for cultural heritage and the legislative framework, while Martin Bućan from Split-Dalmatia County presented the Desirmed and A-AAGORA projects.

At the end of the presentations, a round table was held on the topic “From global science to local action”, moderated by Sandra Bračot, and the discussion was attended by Professor Mirko Orlić, Vinko Trbušković, Petra Smajić and Martin Bućan.

The second day of activities was reserved for a project meeting of partners, about the activities carried out so far, future tasks in further work packages, financial construction, and the outline content of the Climate Change Adaptation Plan was presented, which will be further developed in the coming months.

For more information about the CAMPUS project, visit https://www.italy-croatia.eu/web/campus.

Objava The International Conference and the 4th meeting of partners on the CAMPUS project pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

Renewable energy sources can improve people’s standard of living, especially when it comes to health. Namely, it has been confirmed that air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels is linked to heart attacks, respiratory problems and asthma. Given that renewable energy sources contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are mostly caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, it is clear that using these forms of energy mitigates climate change. Climate change, or the climate crisis in which humanity finds itself, is manifested in extreme weather conditions, heat waves and the spread of infectious diseases, as well as in rising air and water temperatures. All ecosystems are threatened by these changes and only healthy and preserved ecosystems will have the best chance of adapting to climate change. The economic benefits of switching to renewable energy sources are also important, both through the creation of new jobs and through the generation of income and investment.

In our Plitvice Lakes National Park, we will mark Earth Day with an educational program “What’s happening to the climate?” with 6th grade elementary school students from the Rakovica, Plitvice Lakes and Korenica area, as in previous years.

Finally, through the main message of this year’s Earth Day, it is very clear that the power of people is the driving force behind every change for the benefit of the entire planet!

For additional information, please check webpage https://www.earthday.org/.

Objava Earth Day – Our Power, Our Planet pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

Project leader Izidora Marković Vukadin, PhD, and the team members will endeavour to carry out numerous scientific activities until the end of 2027, until when the project is active and funds are secured from the European Union’s NextGeneration Fund, namely the National Recovery and Resilience Plan at the level of Croatia.

Besides the Plitvice Lakes National Park, the other three destinations are the town of Krk, the municipality of Pakoštane and Sv. Martin na Muri, which means that the scientific team has covered three different areas: coastal, mainland and protected areas.

Cooperation within the above-mentioned project is planned through the exchange of scientific and expert data, information and experience; conducting interviews, surveys and focus groups to achieve the assigned project activities; cooperation in the publication of scientific papers; activities to popularise science; mutual sharing and use of library materials and other content of common interest.

In the first year of the project, efforts will be made to measure and document the specific and potential impacts of climate change on destinations, identify the main hazards and vulnerabilities arising from climate change, assess the ways in which these hazards affect tourism and destinations, analyse different geographical contexts of destination resilience and vulnerability, together with information and awareness raising, participation in international scientific conferences and publication of scientific papers.

We expect the further implementation of the activities and a successful cooperation with the project team of the Institute for Tourism.

Objava Agreement on scientific, research and professional cooperation within the framework of the COMMITMENT project pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

On 16 October 2024, representatives of the Plitvice Lakes National Park participated in the workshop “Strengthening the Resilience of Tourism to Climate Change” held at the Hotel Gacka in Ličko Lešće, organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. This workshop is the 12^th workshop on the aforementioned topic, which has been held since 2022. The workshops are conducted based on the obligations of the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy in the Republic of Croatia for the period until 2040 with a view to 2070 (OG 46/20), and with the aim of raising awareness among experts involved in the tourism sector about the impact, risks and opportunities for climate change adaptation and strengthening the resilience of local communities in the tourism sector. The workshop was attended by representatives of municipal and county tourist boards, representatives of the protected areas of the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Northern Velebit National Park, a representative of the Lika Destination Cluster, and other interested parties. Online presentations were given by Željko Šimek from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition on the topic of the strategic and legislative framework in the field of climate change adaptation, and Natalija Šimunović from the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union Funds on the topic of presenting national guidelines for climate proofing. Jelena Šobat presented on behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports on tourism reform and ecological certification. Vedran Katalinić gave a presentation on behalf of the Northern Velebit National Park on sustainable development in the function of tourism, and Željka Nikšić on behalf of the Lika Destination Cluster, i.e. the Lika Coop agricultural cooperative, on the topic of local products in the function of strengthening the resilience of destinations to climate change.

As the winner of the Green Destinations Silver Award, which we received as the Plitvice Lakes National Park in 2023, we were invited to present our own experiences and the process of going through the criteria (standards). The aim was to inform the participants about our path to sustainability, the activities we have initiated or the sustainable practises that are still under development and with which we are trying to achieve better compliance with certain criteria that need improvement. The topic of the development of the Plitvice Lakes National Park Management Plan 2019 – 2028 was also interesting for the participants, as it provided an overview of the participatory approach to the development of the plan, in which a significant contribution was made through workshops with stakeholders. At the workshop, Maja Vurnek, PhD, gave a presentation on behalf of Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Tourism communities are facing new challenges in the development of destination management plans and we hereby encourage all tourism stakeholders to achieve sustainable practises and implement sustainable policies in the industry to strengthen the resilience of tourism in challenging times where climate change has a significant impact and for which it is necessary to develop an adaptation and mitigation system.

Under the link https://youtu.be/uuhitMypss4?si=GCK9BPuOJ96BRl9O you can watch the recording of the 12^th workshop with presentations, while all previous workshops with presentations are available at https://mint.gov.hr/odrziviturizam/upravljanje-i-edukacija/23013.

More information on sustainable tourism can be found on the website of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Objava Workshop “Strengthening the Resilience of Tourism to Climate Change” pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

The facts are taken from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, and the “Climate Fresk” concept comes from France, with its main author being Cédric Ringenbach. The hard work of the mentors has brought the workshop to Croatia to improve climate literacy and attempt to raise awareness of the problems caused by climate change, or rather climate crisis we are experiencing.

Objava Workshop on climate change pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".

“My planet Earth” is a name of the presented video, which can be used as a tool in conducting educational programme about climate change for children, but it can be also used as an independent educational video for children to learn basics about climate change.

Objava Educational video about climate change “My planet Earth” pojavila se prvi puta na Nacionalni park "Plitvička jezera".