Article „Marine Litter in Croatian Adriatic: Sources, Quantities and Stakeholders′ Perspectives“

The problem of marine litter is becoming more visible in Croatia. The main goal of this paper is to investigate issues related to marine litter in the Croatian Adriatic, from the current state of sources and quantities of marine litter, through marine litter monitoring and legislation, to stakeholders’ awareness about the marine litter issue in Croatia. The topic was designed as a case study and was covered by the method of document analysis and the survey method. Quantitative analysis was done for involved stakeholders and their level of interest. The mean value method and method for stakeholder mapping for marine areas was used. In addition, an exhaustive review of Croatian marine litter studies was done. The results of the research indicate that our knowledge about marine litter sources and quantities in the Croatian Adriatic is still quite scarce and that the stakeholders in Croatia have a moderate level of interest in the marine litter issue. Conclusions indicate that in Croatia particular attention is committed to strengthening both bilateral and multilateral relations with the neighboring countries given the transboundary nature that allows marine litter to spread over long distances.