Photo 1. From the opening of the exhibition Stone – Forest – Sea at Filodrammatica
in celebration of Earth Day (Photo by M. Randić)

EVENTS CELEBRATING EARTH DAY (22 April 2013)

The celebration of Earth Day began at Dundo, a protected
forest on Rab Island, where a “forest workshop” was held for
the sixth-graders of Vladimir Nazor Elementary School of Crikvenica. For
more information, please visit the Web pages of PI “Priroda”
(see: www.ju-priroda.hr/novosti.asp?id=novosti/171-radionica-dundovo.html
i www.ju-priroda.hr/kutak.asp?id=5kutak/suradnja-sa-skolama/2-dundo-frotaz.html
) and the Web site of Vladimir Nazor Elementary School (see: os-vnazora-crikvenica.skole.hr
).

On 19 April 2013, the pupils of Nikola Tesla Elementary
School of Rijeka and the representatives of the Town of Opatija, Public
Institution “Priroda” and “Parkovi” Opatija undertook
joint action in removing trees of heaven, an invasive species, from an
abandoned yard in Opatija (Photo 3). Once this was completed, the pupils
handed out leaflets explaining the importance of combating invasive species.
You can visit the school’s Web site to learn more about this campaign
(see: os-ntesla-ri.skole.hr
)

Rab Island also saw other activities. On Saturday, 20
April, the Friends of Rab 1895 Society and the Town of Rab organized two
events: the Green Purge and the Volunteer Drive for Komrčar Protected
Forest Park. PI “Priroda” was a partner in this project. As
many as 100 volunteers gathered at the forest park. The Rab Forest Area
Office carried out preliminary work by felling and sawing up a number
of diseased, damaged or too closely growing trees in the park. Among the
volunteers were 30 pupils of Ivan Rabljanin Elementary School, 15 pupils
of Markantun de Dominis Elementary School and some 50 adults, many of
which were the representatives of local organizations. Most of the work
involved removing the sawed trees from the park.

On the same day, 20 April, an educational and environmental
drive entitled Saving the Brown Frog was held in the area of Donje Križe
and Lazac near the town of Lokve. Taking part in the drive were the biology
teacher and pupils of Rudolf Strohal Elementary School, the representative
of the Lokve Forest Area Office, the representatives of the Lokve Tourist
Board, the representative of PI “Priroda” and Boris Crnković,
who has for many long years been an activist for the protection of the
brown frog in Gorski Kotar (Photo 2). Other participants included the
representative of the Žabac Association of Zagreb and several people of
Lokve. The aim of the drive was to find and transfer frog spawn from several
mid-sized and small pools (that are known to be habitats where frogs spawn
but which regularly dry up in the summer months making it impossible for
tadpoles to fully develop) into a large pond that does not dry up and
will provide ideal conditions for the development and life of tadpoles.
The purpose of these drives, which have become an annual event, is to
raise awareness about the importance of conserving the threatened frog
population in our region.

The central event took place on Earth Day at Filodrammatica
in Rijeka with the opening of the traditional photography exhibition organized
by the Young Guardians of the Environment (Photo 1). Visitors were invited
to find out their ecological footprint by using the Ecological Footprint
Calculator, an eco-questionnaire, to remind them of the impact they have
on the Earth. The title of this year’s successful exhibition is Stone-Forest-Sea.
Two lectures were also held concerning air protection and the protected
nature areas of Primorsko-Goranska County. The first lecture, Air Quality,
was held by Goran Crvelin of the County Teaching Institute for Public
Health, and the second lecture, Why Do We Need Protected Areas?, by Sunčica
Strišković of PI “Priroda”. The event was organized by the Eco-Centre
of Young Guardians of the Environment, part of the “Our Children”
Association, in cooperation with the County Teaching Institute for Public
Health and PI “Priroda”. The exhibition will be open until 27
April 2013.

A representative of PI “Priroda” participated
in a clean-up drive of the future Marine Science Centre at Veli Lošinj,
organized by the Blue World Institute for Marine Research and Protection
of Veli Lošinj.

To immortalize the theme The Face of Climate Change,
we printed a poster for the occasion. The poster features the usual happy
face of the Earth along with several small images of the Earth with gloomy,
dark and even cataclysmic faces that we could cause through our careless
actions. The poster was printed by Primorsko-Goranska County in cooperation
with the Administrative Department for Construction and Environmental
Protection, and PI “Priroda” ( ju-priroda.hr/7korisni/posteri/plakat_earth_2013.pdf
). On Earth Day, a supplement by PI “Priroda” dealing with the
possible consequences of climate change on certain parts of Primorsko-Goranska
County was published in Novi List, the local daily newspaper. You can
read the entire supplement in .pdf format on the Web pages of PI “Priroda”.

It is our hope that these events and activities have
helped to raise the awareness of at least a small portion of people in
Primorsko-Goranska County that the Earth is our irreparable home.

Photo 2. Participants of the educational and ecological drive Saving the
Brown Frog at Lazac near Lokve (Photo by Tomislav Šolić, representative
of the Žabac Association of Zagreb.)

Photo 3. From the eco-drive Removing the Tree of Heaven, an Invasive Species
in Opatija (Photo Prof Oriana Marušić Štimac, Nikola Tesla Elementary
School )