The European ecological network Natura 2000 is an ambitious project of the European Union, established with the goal of preserving biodiversity by protecting natural habitats and species. The Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive provide a solid foundation for nature protection in Europe, covering areas of exceptional importance to the European Union. The project sounds promising; however, in reality, it is often something entirely different…
The Theory of Protection
The EU does not strictly prescribe how something should be done. The guidelines of Natura 2000 are clear and simple. The directives consist of general principles that member states develop and apply according to their own circumstances. Natura 2000 is based on trust in the system and its proper functioning. In the Republic of Croatia, nature protection falls under the responsibility of public institutions managing the areas of the ecological network. State institutions determine what types of economic activities can be carried out in protected areas, nominally all in line with Natura 2000.
The Croatian Model of Directive Implementation
In Croatia, forests are being ravaged everywhere, regardless of the declared level of protection and the Natura 2000 directives. Both state and private forests, nature parks, national parks, and even special nature reserves are being equally devastated. The responsible public institutions and state agencies formally protect nature, while in practice they are guided solely by profit interests.
How is this possible?
In Croatia, nearly half of the territory is covered by forests, of which about 76% are state-owned. According to the Forest Act, they are managed by the state company Hrvatske šume d.o.o. (Croatian Forests Ltd.), which is directly controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, and under special supervision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition for the management of areas protected by Natura 2000. However, in practice, the same system that should oversee nature protection actually enables its lawful destruction. Both ministries, driven by profit interests, approve management plans that will further devastate already severely damaged forest areas.
Profit and More Profit
This is where the gray zone between practice and regulations lies: Croatian Forests Ltd., on the one hand, must follow the provisions based on laws aligned with international regulations, including numerous environmental conventions. But at the same time, they don't have to, as they have formal approval from relevant institutions for even brutal clear-cutting in all, including protected, forest areas. Thus, it is indisputable that, in Croatia, on one side are the laws based on ecological directives, and on the other, the practice dictated by profit.
A Dead Letter
Therefore, it is astonishing how, alongside the EU's commendable Natura 2000 program for nature conservation, there is simultaneously a push for a controversial program of energy production from so-called renewable energy sources, which includes forests. In a small country like Croatia, more than a hundred plants for energy production by burning wood biomass have been registered since joining the EU in 2013. These have turned into insatiable private consumers of forest wood, naturally accumulating private profits. Undoubtedly, on paper, Natura 2000 represents one of the most powerful tools for nature conservation. But is Natura 2000 truly a strong enough barrier between nature and greed, or is it merely a dead letter, a formality used to mask ecocide?
Omertà
Due to excessive logging, the Green Squad has been filing criminal complaints against the state company Croatian Forests Ltd. since 2018, sending complaints to the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia about observed irregularities and illegalities in forest management, warning the Parliament, the President of the Republic of Croatia, the Prime Minister… But there are no responses. For years, under state sponsorship, deforestation goes unpunished, and year by year, there are fewer and fewer precious forests, including the protected ones.
At the end of 2020 and during 2021, we tried to alert the European Commission with two documented reports titled Report on Deforestation in the Republic of Croatia, but we also hit an impenetrable wall of silence there. In 2021, Austrian MEP and co-chair of the European Green Party Thomas Waitz toured the brutally deforested protected areas of Bilogora, the Special Ornithological Reserve Crna Mlaka, and the Special Zoological Reserve Varoški Lug with us. Visibly shocked by the scale of devastation, he issued an alarming call for urgent action to European institutions, but "Europe" remains silent.
The Time for Delay Has Run Out
Natura 2000, the symbol of European ecological protection, has undoubtedly become synonymous in Croatia with the powerlessness of laws in the face of greed and corruption. While the relevant institutions turn a blind eye, forest devastation continues, and the lack of
adequate response further undermines the credibility of the entire nature protection system in Europe, sending the message that violations can be tolerated without serious consequences. The destruction of nature continues solely in the name of profit, and questions about its protection remain unanswered. It is becoming clear that the responsibility for further devastation lies at all levels – from local authorities and institutions to the national government and the European Union. Without stronger oversight, more effective legal mechanisms, and determined political will, Natura 2000 in Croatia remains an ineffective tool that, instead of protecting nature, when not applied, allows its destruction. If immediate concrete measures are not taken to improve monitoring and the implementation of directives to halt forest destruction in protected areas, there is a real danger that Croatia will lose its most valuable natural resources, and Natura 2000 will become a symbol of a missed opportunity for nature conservation.
