At this year’s Sustainable Tourism Forum 2025, which took place at Expo City Dubai on 28-29 October, among the finalists for the Green Destinations Award in the Environment and Climate category was the story of Plitvice Lakes National Park “Feel the Pulse of the Forest – Biomonitoring of Forest Growth and Carbon Storage”. This story was included in the Top 100 Stories on Sustainability at the Green Destinations 2025 competition, and being nomination as a finalist highlights the dedicated work of Plitvice Lakes National Park on the development of sustainable, educational and responsible tourism.
“Feel the Pulse of the Forest” is the name of the initiative that was implemented in 2024 in cooperation with Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, University of Zagreb, and refers to the installation of 10 sustainable biomonitoring stations in the Park area that monitor tree growth, carbon absorption and meteorological data. One of the stations is located in the visitor zone of the Plitvice Lakes National Park, where visitors can see the biomonitoring station on site with a detailed explanation of the research on information boards and read the data on the trees they are currently observing from the QR code. In this way, exploring the nature of the Plitvice Lakes turns into an interactive learning experience that deepens the visitors’ awareness of forests as key “carbon reservoirs” and their importance in understanding climate change.
Biomonitoring of tree growth and carbon storage allows scientists from the Plitvice Lakes National Park and the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology to gain a deeper understanding of forest and climate processes, while the measuring station in the visitor zone enriches educational programs, guided tours and visitors’ insight into the Park’s efforts to preserve nature and adapt to climate change.
Plitvice Lakes National Park Management is extremely proud that through this nomination, the efforts of the Park’s employees to preserve this unique natural treasure have been recognized on a global level.
The announcement of the winners in all categories will take place at the ITB Berlin fair in 2026, one of the world’s most influential tourism fairs, where Plitvice Lakes National Park will once again be in the spotlight as one of the prominent examples of sustainable development in tourism.
