Eko revija broj 7 - Fond za zaštitu okoliša i energetsku učinkovitost

ear (Ursus Spelaeus) were found on
several locations within the cave.
Roman Ozimec: A sensational
phenomenon under the Ćilipi
Airport
Not many passengers traveling
through the Ćilipi Airport know that
beneath their feet lays hidden one
of the jewels of Croatian karst - the
Đurovića cave. Several meters from
the control tower, in one of the adjacent
buildings, there is a door leading
into one of the largest speleological
objects in the Konavle area.
Archeological research showed that
the history of exploration and use
of the Đurovića cave began in the
Bronze Age, some 5000 years ago.
There is no doubt that our forefathers
knew of the cave, used it as a shelter
over a long period of time and collected
in it water for drink. Unfortunately,
in 1963, the cave entrance was
closed off during the construction of
the Ćilipi Airport and the cave itself
was forgotten.
In 2005, the Expert Survey was conducted
which included detailed cave
mapping and comprehensive geomorphological,
paleonthological,
archeological and biospeleological
studies. The adaptation of the cave,
based upon that survey, will include
the key components of sustainable
development and a continued ecosystem
monitoring.
Edita Gregurić - Cvenić: Trakošćan
- castle on a golden lake
A white, magnificent Neo-Gothic
edifice rises high on a wooded slope
above the lake, bearing testimony to
the area’s eventful past. The castle
is surrounded by a luscious English
garden. Alongside native trees like
oak, hornbeam, maple, elm, yew, fir
and spruce, there grows cypress tree,
copper beech, plane-tree, juniper and
wisteria. A 10 kilometers long path
runs through a wild, Romanticist
pleasure garden, which imperceptibly
merges into the surrounding forest
of autochthonous chestnut oak
and hornbeam.
The lake was artificially created during
the 19th century reconstruction
of the castle when a dam was erected
on the river Bednja. A gravel path
leads up to the small wooden drawbridge
in front of the barbican which
boasts one of the Drašković family’s
coats of arms, consisting of a crown
and two shields. The right shield is
emblazoned with the sheaf of wheat
and a dragon, while a griffon graces
the left shield. The Trakošćan’s interior
has been renovated and houses
a collection of historical artifacts and
artwork. The armory now houses
an extensive collection of historical
weapons, the hall of portraits presents
the castle’s former owners and
inhabitants, while the library, the
knights’ room and the hunters’ hall
portrait the life in bygone times.
Roman Ozimec: Sniježnica - the
southernmost Croatian mountain
Since time immemorial, the Sniježnica
Mountain has had two names, which
reveal some of the Konavle Valley’s
mysterious past. It was called Mons
Cadmeus, or the Cadmus’ Mountain,
after the legendary Greek king and
the founder of Thebe, who was believed
to have fled from Greece to the
Sniježnica. Its other ancient name is
Mons Aesculapii or the Aesculapius’
Mountain, after the Greek doctor Aesculapius,
the father of modern medicine,
who is said to have dwelt on the
mountain as well. The Sniježnica, like
all mountains in the Croatian south,
belongs to the Dinarides, a mountain
chain spanning areas of Slovenia,
mountain and coastal Croatia,
southeastern Bosnia, Herzegovina,
Montenegro and Albania. The naked
and ragged peaks of Sniježnica are
typical for Karst mountains and resemble
sea waves of stone. In spite
of its seemingly forbidding surface,
the Sniježnica is a botanic phenomenon
due to the influence of Mediterranean
climate, the unique combination
of warmer habitats at lower
elevations and colder ones higher up
the mountain, rich ground waters and
mountain streams, and many other
specific features.
Krunoslav Rac: The Osijek Fort
The baroque Osijek fort is a historical
monument of exceptional value and
is an important part, not only of Croatian,
but of Central European cultural
heritage. It is protected by the UNES-
CO as a zero-category monument.
That baroque fort was built in the early
18th century on the foundations of
Osijek as it was under the Turkish rule.
The old, oriental, chaotic structure of
the Turkish Osijek was abandoned
completely in favor of the urbanistic
plan based on the principles of baroque
architecture. The construction
officially began on August 1, 1712.
The Fort was primarily built for military
purpose, and the first buildings
erected were military establishments:
barracks, powder-rooms, storehouses,
apartments for officers and generals,
a prison, a hospital, a pharmacy and
a post. On the remaining area within
the fort, residential edifices were built
so that people could live within the
fort’s walls and provide services for
the army.
Krunoslav Rac: Egrets in the
Kopački Rit Nature Park
There are eight species of egret living
in the Kopački Rit Nature Park.
With their long legs, necks and bills,
they are well adapted to feeding in
the shallow water and their diet is
comprised of amphibians, reptiles
and fish, while the size of their catch
depends on the size of the bird itself.
Their tail is relatively short. Their
wings are wide and rounded, but
larger species fly very slowly, with
neck pulled in and stretched legs
sticking out beneath the short tail.
Both sexes generally look alike, but
some species change color in nesting
time. They mostly nest in colonies, on
trees or in thickets.
Roman Ozimec: Who lives in the
griffon vulture’s nest?
The griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus fulvus)
is the largest bird of prey in the
family Accipitridae. Griffon is up to
110 cm long with a 280 cm wing-
span, which makes it one of the
largest flying birds in the world. It
is widely distributed, from the Pyrenees,
Southeast Europe and North
Africa, southwest Asia south of Sinai
and Arabia, to the northwest Pakistan
and Tajikistan in Central Asia. In these
parts, only several hundred pairs of
griffon vulture survive, mostly nesting
in the Kvarner area and on the islands
of Krk, Cres, Prvić and Plavnik. That is
why today griffon vulture is a highly
endangered species in Croatia!
A pair of griffons begins building a
nest eight weeks before egg laying.
Their nests are hardly more than a
crude heap of smaller and larger
twigs and grass, elliptic in shape, 120
long, 60 cm wide and 25 cm high.
They are usually positioned on cliff
ledges, high above the sea.
Stanislava Opsenica: The art of
Branislav Nemet
I have attended the presentation of
Branislav Nemet’s artwork collection,
held in the premises of the Croatian
Chamber of Lawyers on April 26,
2006. I have enjoyed all my senses
while leafing through this book and
exploring the exhibition of his works.
I was specially impressed by Nemet’s
landscapes. I felt as if Nemet wanted
to “castigate” us with their beauty or
award us with one fleeting moment
of joy. In his paintings, bridges bask
in the sun, storm clouds take over
the sky, and stars twinkle in the night
with the mute moon bearing testimony
to the Nemet’s palette of fresh and
warm colors.
Ružica Cindori: Exhibition “Glass”
On the occasion of the Planet Earth
Day, on April 22, at the recently
opened gallery of the Ericsson Nikola
Tesla Company, the ENK’s environment
manager Dubravka Bačun set
up an educational exhibition on glass,
its manufacture and uses, its collection
and recycling of glass containers.
Unfortunately, many glass products
still end up on landfills, in spite of the
fact that glass is a completely natural
material which can be recycled a
countless number of times, without
losing quality. Even though glass
bottle recycling bins have existed in
Croatia for a number of years, statistics
show that until this year only 19%
of post-consumer glass was reused.
Ivana Rora: Croatia Eco-Task
Force 2006 - Croatian Heritage
Foundation’s project
The Croatian Heritage Foundation’s
project titled Croatia Eco-Task Force
is a program in which young people
from the homeland and abroad work
on environment protection, renewing
abandoned areas of Croatian natural-heritage
and cultural-historical
regions which led to a transformation
of the idea behind the project
which has emerged as the Croatia
Eco Task Force. This year’s program
of the 15th Eco Heritage Task Force
concentrates on archaeological diggings
of ancient sites from the 1st
and 2nd centuries in the region of
Crikvenica, Novi Vinodolski and the
Frankopan Castle above Hreljin.
An excursion is planned to western
historical section of Vinodol parish,
the Frankopan castles on Trsat and
Grobnik, the Franciscan monastery
and Our Lady’s church on Trsat. A
one day excursion is planned for the
island of Krk where participants will
get to explore the ancient Christian
and medieval heritage of that island.
Ivana Belić: Activities of the
environmental organization Eko
The environmental organization Eko
was founded in Zagreb in 1998 with
the aim to educate younger generations
about ecology, teach them how
to treat nature and how to rationally
use its resources. Eko believes that it
is not only children that need education,
but their teachers as well, so they
organize environmental seminars for
teachers. Education of teachers is
based on the latest changes in out
ecosystem, environmental legislation
and civic initiatives aimed at bettering
the environment or prevention of
pollution. Teachers are also informed
of the ways in which to present the
topic and engender, maintain, and
rekindle students’ motivation.
Dražen Jambrović: How to avoid
traffic jams
For the past several years, the roads
leading to the coast have been
clogged, especially on weekends
when most tourists go on vacation
or return home. Kilometers of new
highroads added over the past several
years have helped alleviate the
problem, especially on the Zagreb-
Split section which was completed
last year. Nevertheless, even on that
road the flow of traffic can be slowed
down or interrupted, especially at
“traffic bottlenecks”, like in front of
two single lane tunnels Mala Kapela
and Sveti Rok, where traffic jams and
even gridlocks are not uncommon.
How to avoid traffic jams when traveling
on a holiday? The main thing is
to avoid weekends. Check the travel
planner and schedule your trip accordingly.
Every year, the Croatian
National Tourist Board issues a bulletin
for Croatian and foreign travelers
with all the necessary information.
It includes a detailed travel planner,
with a list of days when heavy traffic is
expected on the roads to the coast.
Miroslav Fuček: Eco-photo 2006
The Ferdinandovac Elementary
School from the village of Ferdinandovac,
which has only 260 pupils, is
one of sixteen Croatian schools granted
the status of the International
Eco-school in 2001. Apart from their
everyday projects aimed at preservation
of their immediate environment
and development of environmental
awareness, the school is especially
proud of their project titled Ecophoto,
organized by the school for
the fifth year (a small jubilee).
Eco-photo is a student photography
contest. The purpose of the Eco-photo
is to develop in students love for the
natural beauty of their homeland and
critical thinking regarding the factors
disturbing natural balance, while raising
awareness of the ecological importance
of living in harmony with
nature and its unerring laws.