Holiday-makers involved in Croatian protected species defence

In Cres, Camp Kovačine takes action to protect the island’s large number of protected animal and flora species.

Camp Kovačine raises its guests’ awareness about environmental protection thanks to interactive activities suitable for both kids and their parents. Two years ago, the Camp launched a new activity called “What if”. This project began with lectures on the protection of protected animal species, followed by an art workshop on protected animals and themed social games. Thanks to this initiative, guests receive information concerning Cres’ impressive fauna and flora and the best behaviour to adopt concerning protected species.

“And when we go with the boat to the sea trip- what if we see dolphins? Can we feed them? Can we follow them with a boat? Do they like swimming with humans or they actually get scared and become aggressive? / Tina Gams-Fučić, the quality manager of camping Kovačine and project manager for ecology.”

By teaching beach visitors, employees and children how to deal with the island protected species, Camp Kovačine does a great job for the protection of the environment. Involving the kids and their parents into this activity permits interactions between generations which is a key variable for the future of our planet. Through this, guests understand that each action (or inaction) matters and will apply this mind-set their entire life. For example, they now know that pulling out from the sea Pinna Nobilis (a marine mollusc) can be punished by a fine or prison term.

It is not first Camp Kovačine’s initiative to raise its guests’ environmental consciousness. Last year, the campsite’s eco-theatre made children aware of their possibilities to protect the species since animators dressed like dolphins, flowers or birds were threatened by a plastic bag. Indeed, plastic pollution and climate change were the two mains topics of the piece and also are at the top of the Camp’s environmental policy.   

“Our objective is to teach beach visitors, employees and children how to deal with protected animal species. Our main message, of course, is conservation and protection of protected animal species. also said Tina Gams-Fučić”

Camp Kovačine contributes to the prevention of climate change by showing its guests that they have to be active for our environment. With 95 Blue Flag beaches and 27 marinas in the country, that kind of activities helps a lot keeping Croatia’s exceptional and diverse natural beauty.

New partnership to enhance wheelchair accessibility to the coast

People with disabilities can now easily find out if they can get access to the 4,500 Blue Flag beaches, marinas or boating tourism operators through a new partnership with Wheelmap.org.

Wheelmap is a free online map for finding and rating wheelchair accessible places worldwide. The project is run by the nonprofit organisation “Sozialhelden”, a disability rights organisation based in Berlin. The Blue Flag partnership with Wheelmap.org is a step forward to improving the coasts’ ease of access and providing information about wheelchair accessible facilities. The Blue Flag listings on Wheelmap contain a direct link to the blueflag.global website, so that users can also benefit from all the detailed information which is provided there.

Credits: DICOM

How does it work?

Wheelmap rates the wheelchair accessibility of public places such as public transport, restaurants, playgrounds and tourism sites worldwide, using a smart traffic light system. The colors green, yellow and red indicate if a place is fully, partially or not wheelchair accessible. As everyone can easily update a site´s rating by using its app or web application, Wheelmap helps to increase the availability of accessibility information for people with disabilities. The Blue Flag sites have now become part of a collection of nearly 1 million public places rated by the Wheelmap community and additional information on another 500,000 places which is provided by dozens of partner organisations. An example of an accessible Blue Flag boating operator as it is listed on Wheelmap can be found here. 

“We are very pleased that our two projects, which promote sustainable and equitable tourism in very different ways, have joined forces. We are working together to make accessibility information easily available to millions of people with mobility impairments who want to enjoy the coast and all it has to offer.
Svenja Heinecke, Wheelmap Community Manager”

Credits: DICOM

With more than 4,500 awarded sites in 45 countries around the world, Blue Flag plays a key role in spreading inclusive initiatives in the coastal tourism industry. 

“We want the public to be able to choose the best site depending on their needs, as all offer different levels of accessibility. It can be to the site, or in the water itself, which is a huge difference on how you experience the coast. We are extremely happy to be able to share our data to Wheelmap, a dedicated platform for international accessibility.
Sophie Bachet Granados, International Blue Flag Director”