Water pearls of the Adriatic Islands 1st systematic Island Wetland Inventory in Croatia Ivana Sučić 1, Matea Talaja 1, Ana Štih 1, Ivona Burić 1, Mladen Zadravec 1, Toni Koren 1, Boris Lauš 1, Mak Vujanović 1, Irma Popović Dujmović 2 1Association Hyla, Lipovac I no. 7, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia (ivana.sucic@hhdhyla.hr) 2WWF Adria, Zelinska 2, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia Island Wetland Inventory Based on the twenty-year field research experience throughout Croatia, Association Hyla has recognized the necesity for conservation actions of the island wetlands. During 2016 the project “KARST – The Dinaric Arc Karst biodiversity conservation programme” has begun with the preliminary island wetland inventory activities. The first ever list of wetlands on the Adriatic islands was created, containing a total of 2739 wetlands on 71 islands, representing 15 wetland types according to the Ramsar classification (Figure 1). Wetlands are mainly present, and in large numbers, on the larger inhabited islands and their existence depends on human activities (extensive agriculture, traditional animal husbandry, etc.) (Figures 2 and 3). Figures 2 and 3. Wetlands on Korčula Island The great challenges ahead of us are to make an active island volunteer network and to raise awareness among decision-makers, authorities, local communities, the general public and to present the value of wetlands and the threats they face. Figure 1. Map of wetlands on Adriatic Islands Potential wetland sites > 0.1 ha were identified following the same approach developed for the Greek Islands through remote sensing using Google Earth satellite imagery. Both natural and artificial wetlands without linear systems were detected and a total number of 129 potential wetland sites have been identified (Figure 4). That is only 4.7% of the total number of wetlands on the Adriatic Islands. A unique coded identifier was assigned to each wetland and the delineation of them has been done. An overview of the legal regulation and protection of island wetlands was made. Croatian laws do recognize wetlands, but in a controversial way – the Agriculture Act recognizes wetlands as agricultural land which can be used in agricultural production and/or changed into construction land. On the other hand, the Nature Protection Act recognized Mediterranean temporary ponds on the islands as vital habitats. So the protection of island wetlands is only theoretically present, and lacking in reality. Unfortunately, none of the implementing acts – physical planing or management planning acts do not recognize island wetlands as island biodiversity hot-spots. Therefore there is a lot of room for legal recognition and protection of island wetlands on both the national and local level. Also collecting and indexing all the relevant scientific literature which will help and improve implementation of conservation measures for future conservation actions and public awareness-raising has been made. The construction of a national database is in progress. It will be compatible with the databases from all MedIsWet partners and bilingual – in English and Croatian languages. Deliverables and achievements Natural: 2337 Artificial: 402 The project „Conservation of the island wetlands of the Mediterranean basin” (MedIsWet) represents a replication of the Greek island wetland inventory project on all islands of the Mediterranean Basin. The project will contribute to: the full implementation of the Ramsar Resolution XII.14 “Conservation of Mediterranean Basin island wetlands”, the achievement of Ramsar Convention’s and MedWet’s objectives, the completion of the inventories of all the Mediterranean island wetlands, dissemination of knowledge and promotion of certain conservation measures at the local, national and Mediterranean scale. Croatian NGOs Association Hyla and WWF Adria are two of the 13 partners collaborating on the project. An important project outcome at the national level will be the first systematic standardized island wetland inventory in Croatia which is going to be the foundation for future nature protection, legislation and restoration activities. MedIsWet project Figure 4. Map of wetlands > 0.1 ha on Adriatic Islands Objective A: To identify and perform an inventory of all wetlands > 0.1 ha throughout the Adriatic Islands, document their characteristics, ecological status and vulnerability and disseminate knowledge to the public and to the scientific community. Objective B: Draft a proposal for the improvement of the ecological status and to implement habitat restoration activities at least for one site. Objective C: Promote tangible conservation measures at the local, national and Mediterranean scale to all relevant stakeholders. Field visits to the potential sites will be organised during 2018 and 2019 based on the standardized methodology. The rapid assesment of the status and biodiversity of the wetlands will be done on each field trip. Objectives and activities The project “Mediterranean Island Wetlands” (MedIsWet) is funded by the MAVA Fondation pour la Nature. 9th European Regional Meeting, 19 – 23 March 2018, Olomouc, Czech Republic