Unknown Krka: signed an agreement on grants funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds for the financial period 2014-2020

The Unknown Krka: the Hidden Treasures of the Upper and Middle Courses of the Krka River

The Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds, Gabrijela Žalac, the director of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency, Tomislav Petric, and the director of the Krka National Park, Krešimir Šakić, MA, on Friday the 4th of August 2017 signed an agreement on grants funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds for the financial period 2014-2020 for the project “The Unknown Krka: the hidden treasures of the upper and middle courses of the Krka River”, after a session of the Croatian Government held in Knin. The signing ceremony was enhanced by the presence of the Prime Minister of the Croatian Government, Andrej Plenković, MA.

The total value of the project amounts to 80,057,649 HRK, of which the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union Funds will provide 66,219,193 HRK of grants. The rest of the funds will be provided by the Krka National Park.

This project, with the reference number KK.06.1.2.01.0003, was registered with the call for proposals to Promote Sustainable Use of the Natural Heritage in National Parks and Nature Parks, No. KK.06.1.2.01, in the framework of the Operational Program “Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014-2020”.

The middle and upper courses of the Krka River are extremely rich in natural phenomena and features of the cultural and historical heritage. The public institution Krka National Park has been working intensively in the past decade for valorization and affirmation of the upstream courses and the arrangement of new visitor content in order to stimulate the development of the local economy on the one hand and, on the other, to achieve a spatial and temporal dispersion of visitors and to ease the burden on Skradinski Buk, the most visited waterfall on the Krka River.

The project “The Unknown Krka: hidden treasures of the upper and middle course of the Krka River” will further enhance the above area of the Krka National Park. The aim of the project is to activate the unused visitor and economic potential of the northern part of the Krka National Park through construction of infrastructure and increasing the capacities of key stakeholders, the development of new educative visitor products and services in order to achieve better spatial and temporal schedules of visitors, and an overall social, economic, and ecological prosperity. The total value of the project is 80,057,649 HRK.

Planned implementation of the project:

1. The Krka Eco campus at Puljane ca. 46,500,000 HRK
2. The presentation center “The Krka – the source of life” in Kistanje ca, 19,000,000 HRK
3. Improvements of hiking trails ca. 1.700.000 HRK
4. Electrification of some of the boats ca. 5,900,000 HRK
5. Improving visitor management and cooperation with the local comm ca. 4.300.000 HRK
6. Managing the project and administration ca. 2,400,000 HRK
7. Promotion and visibility ca. 700,000 HRK

The Eco Campus Puljane, an emerging scientific research and educational center, is unique in the county, and will undoubtedly be a generator in the development of the upstream part of Krka National Park and the areas that gravitate to it.

The Krka National park invested 8 million HRK of its own funds for the archeological collection facility, and construction work on the adaptation of structures that will house a dining room and an Internet center, along with waste water treatment facilities at the Eko Campus Puljane. The park also invested in furnishing and equipping a conference hall with guest accommodation.

The institution also provided from its own resources (with additional financing by the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund) for construction work on the adaptation of a natural science laboratory, a school in nature, a parking lot, and a fence in the amount of 6.3 million HRK.