On Wednesday, as part of the Open Day, the project “Endemic pathway – Put endema” (ePATH) was presented in the Hutovo Blato Nature Park, which is jointly implemented by the Hutovo Blato Nature Park (BiH), the Kotisina Botanical Garden in Makarska (Croatia) and the Tivat Special Nature Reserve in Tivat (Montenegro).
The “Endemic pathway – ePATH” project was approved for financing within the trilateral “Interreg IPA Cross-border Corporation Program Croatia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 2014-2020”, with the aim of strengthening and diversifying the tourist offer through cross-border cooperation and improving management and sustainable usage of cultural and natural heritage.
The project contributes to the creation of a joint thematic trail dedicated to endemic species and promoting the preservation of natural heritage, and is co-financed by ERDF and IPA II funds of the European Union.
– Within this project, Hutovo Blato will make a significant step forward by enriching the tourist offer, which is based on the natural resources we have here, with special emphasis on endemic species of fish, birds and plants – said the director of the Public Company “Hutovo Blato Nature Park” Nikola Zovko.
He pointed out that there are 600 plant species, more than 160 bird and 50 fish species in the ecosystem of Hutovo Blato.
– We were not able to bring these beauties closer to the visitor’s eye in a quality way, but I think that with the acquisition of new equipment, that will all change now. These are new electric boats, bird watching houses, an educational trail, a lookout, and an educational center. We will establish a series of recreational and educational contents that will make this area more attractive and a multi-day stay, which is one of our main priorities – emphasized Zovko.
According to him, the new facilities in Hutovo Blato will be realized and implemented in the next few months.
Project manager of the partner on behalf of the City of Makarska, Tamara Batinic Culav, presented the planned activities in the Kotisina Botanical Garden.
– Given that we do not have these types of sights in our area, we are looking forward to the continuation of work and the presentation of our new tourist offer that is being developed as part of the project. We are implementing several activities in Makarska, and we are talking about infrastructure in terms of road adaptation, arrangement of the track surface and equipment, and we plan to introduce VR glasses. We will also build bridges, protect the Proslap canyon and complete the entire tourist offer – stressed Batinic Culav.
Aleksandra Ivanovic from the Public Company for the Management of Marine Assets from Montenegro pointed out that within this project, three locations rich in biodiversity will be connected and a common tourist offer will be created.
– Considering the location and the habitat itself, each area offers specific conditions and specific biodiversity. What we can offer together is an exceptional experience where the visitor can see one seaside place, one mountain and one wetland area such as Hutovo blato in a relatively small area. The ultimate goal of this project is to create a joint tourist offer so that we can offer visitors to each of our protected areas a visit to other protected areas – said Ivanovic.
The total value of this project is 1,540,375 EUR, and the European Union finances it with 1,309,319 EUR, while the rest of that value will be covered by local self-government units.
(FENA)
Source: abrasmedia.info
