A Climate for Change

Human Development Report - Croatia 2008 Coastal Zone and Sea-Level Rise^79

Type of Impact to Tourism Potential Consequence of Impact

SLR impact on coastal recreational

sites and cultural sites – direct and

indirect impacts

Directly affects:

• Cultural aspects of tourist destinations - many of the historical centres of coastal
  towns are just one or two metres above present sea levels. Zadar, Trogir, Split,
  Dubrovnik, Stari Grad and many others could be prone to flooding, while others
  may even become submerged – Krapanj, Tribunj, and a number of low islets;


• Low-lying buildings, such as hotels, marinas, camps


• Recreational areas may be threatened by erosion and/or beach flooding e.g. the
  famous and popular Zlatni Rat Beach and many coastal promenades).
  Indirectly affects:


• Funding allocation - forcing the protection of cultural sites rather than the devel-
  opment of new recreational sites; and the re-building and repair of tourist facilities
  rather than urbanisation and infrastructure projects.
  SLR impacts on salt water levels,
  salt water quality and tempera-
  tures – indirect impact

Indirectly affects:

• Secondary tourism infrastructure (such as fresh-water pipelines, underwater commu-
  nication cables, etc.)


• Structure and development of coastal aquatic ecosystems and habitats that influence
  the supplies of environmental services enjoyed by visitors (such as Neretva, Krka and
  Lim river deltas or estuaries)
  SLR impacts on coastal freshwa-
  ter springs and wells (salt water
  intrusion into freshwater wells and
  springs) – indirect impact

Indirectly affects:

• The drinking water supply due to the loss of coastal wells after salt water intrusion
  (the shortage of drinking water is already a problem, especially on the islands)


• The functioning of coastal sewer systems due to flooding


• The functioning of some water-pipe systems due to flooding

Table 5-2: Potential direct and indirect impacts of sea-level rise (SLR) on the Croatian tourism industry

Figure 5-4: Coastal Image of Šibenik, the island Krapanj after a sea-level rise of 0.50 metres (light grey). (Mesh means

urban settlement)

Source: OIKON d.o.o.