Eco Hvar - home for ecology on Hvar Island in Croatia

Welcome to the Eco-Hvar website

Welcome to the Eco-Hvar website!

Hvar Island on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It has the makings of a paradise on earth. Islanders have long boasted of the clean air and sea, the pristine natural environment and the healthy lifestyle based on a good diet and outdoor living.

*Clear sea in Hvar harbour, July 2014. Photo: Vivian Grisogono*

Tourism is the island’s main economic activity. Hvar Town established the first professional tourist organization in Europe when the Hvar Health Society (Higijeničko društvo Hvar) was founded way back in 1868 under the leadership of Bishop Juraj Duboković. The Society’s aim was to attract guests to Hvar Town who could benefit from the climate, especially the mild winter, and the clean air. These ‘health tourists’ were well looked after by all accounts, with good food and healthy activities. They provided the foundation for Hvar’s enduring successful tourist industry.

The style of tourism has changed over the years. The basis of Hvar Island’s attractions remains the same. Many people still come to visit or stay here in order to enjoy the clean air, sea and countryside. No-one is disappointed in the natural beauty of the place. There are also other attractions, including the island's rich and colourful history and cultural heritage, not to mention the good food and high quality wines.

However, the island is not perfect. Certain aspects could and should be changed. There is a surprisingly high incidence of smoking- and diet-related illnesses on the island, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and lung problems. The doctors also have to deal with thyroid and hormonal disturbances, especially in young girls, and cancers in all age groups. The indications are that islanders need a better understanding of healthy lifestyle habits, also a clearer knowledge of the downside of using chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

For animal-lovers, the treatment of animals also gives cause for concern. There is no animal rescue facility on the island, and refuges for dogs and cats are urgently needed so proper care can be provided for homeless animals.

The registered not-for-profit charity Eco Hvar was founded in 2013 to help improve conditions for people, animals and the environment. You can read details of the charity's aims in each category on these links: Environment, Health, Animals. The overall ideal aim is to create a true earthly paradise on the exquisite Island of Hvar.

Eco Hvar is pleased to co-operate with like-minded organizations, and is a member of PAN Europe, and LAG Škoji, and a supporter of Zemljane staze - Earth Trek (Facebook page), Održivi otok ('Sustainable Island') (Facebook page), Dignitea (Facebook page) and Pokret otoka ('Island Movement')..

For comprehensive research and strategies for environmental protection, we follow and strongly recommend The Nature-based Solutions Initiative, which operates from the UK University of Oxford Departments of Biology and Geography.

The Eco-Hvar website contains original articles, information, references and links in keeping with the aims of Eco Hvar. All the material on the website is copyright, including the illustrations and photographs, and may not be reproduced or published in any form except with the copyright holders' written permission. However, you are welcome to copy or print out any of the articles for personal use only. For day-by-day topics of interest in keeping with Eco Hvar's aims, you can follow us on Facebook.

Media

For the Good of All!

Better Ways

Nature Watch

Highlights

About Animals

Forum items

Notices

Poisons: Be aware!

Donations

Donations can be made in euros, pounds sterling, US and Australian dollars and Swiss francs. All donations, however small, are very welcome. We acknowledge donations by email if we have the donor's address. Please let us know if you require a formal paper receipt.

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW BANK DETAILS:

ECO HVAR BANK DETAILS

OTP banka d.d. Split, Domovinskog rata 61, 21000 Split;

Poslovnica Jelsa, 21465 Jelsa.

IBAN HR7024070001100727245; BIC OTPVHR2X
Account name: ECO HVAR

Account address: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Croatia

If the payment slip has a box for 'further details' or 'further information' you should enter the Charity's OIB: 14009858487, and state 'donation' or 'donacija'.

About The Site

The site contains articles and information on topics related to health, the environment and animal welfare.

While the focus is on Hvar Island in Dalmatia, much of the information is relevant to the rest of Croatia, and some to Europe, the United States and the rest of the world.

The main language of the site is English, but articles in Croatian are being added as quickly as possible. Some of the Croatian articles are translations, some original. Book reviews are in the language of the publication being reviewed.

To see all the articles archived in each category, click on the category name which is given below the title of each article (Environment, Highlights, Notices etc).

For further relevant news items and bits of interesting information, please refer to our Facebook page.

Thanks

We are very grateful to Željka Horvat Kozulić for kindly and expertly designing the ECO HVAR logo, also to Jelena Bunčuga, Petra Mimica, Bartul Mimica, Ivana Župan, Dinka Barbić and Josip Vlainić for their generous help in translating articles into Croatian.

Special thanks are also owed to Mihael Magdić of Orion Informatika i Trgovina, Varaždin, for his excellent and patient efforts in designing the website.

Eco Environment News feeds

UK to ban bee-killing pesticides but highly toxic type could still be allowed

Ministers set out plans for outlawing neonicotinoids but considering application by farmers to use Cruiser SB
Bee-killing pesticides are to be banned by the UK government, as ministers set out plans to outlaw the use of neonicotinoids.
However, the highly toxic neonicotinoid Cruiser SB could be allowed for use next year, as ministers are considering applications from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.
Continue reading...
‘You won’t find the real criminals here’: a Just Stop Oil activist in jail at Christmas

Protester Anna Holland says their shock at being behind bars was quickly followed by a stronger feeling of power
- Record number of protesters will be in UK prisons this Christmas
Anna Holland, 22, was one of two young peoplefrom Just Stop Oil who threw tomato soup overa sunflowers painting by Vincentvan Gogh – one of thehighest-profile climate protests of recent years. The painting was not damaged, although there was damage to the frame.Holland was sentenced to 20 months in prison.They sent this letter to the Guardian abouttheir experiencebehind bars.
It was a shock at first that the judge had gone to the extreme of our sentence. The first few days and nights in prison were hard but also such an education. So many of the women I have met here are in prison because they were not properly protected by the state, so they have taken me under their wing. I have been looked after, taught the ways of prison, not by the staff but by the other prisoners. It is like nothing I had expected and it is completely overwhelming – but also surprising how quickly I found myself falling into the daily routine.
Continue reading...
Ash dieback experts identify shoots of hope for Britain’s threatened trees

As the deadly fungal disease tightens its grip, scientific efforts to protect ash trees are advancing
The UK is home to more than 100m mature ash trees, and every spring tells the same grim story: leaves emerge, wither and drop within weeks, as ash dieback disease tightens its grip.
Millions stand dead in woodlands and hedgerows across the British Isles, with an estimated 2bn seedlings and saplings at risk. Many experts have long feared the future of this cherished, ecologically important native tree hangs in the balance.
Continue reading...
CO2 emissions from new North Sea drilling sites would match 30 years’ worth from UK households

New research comes as dozens of small potential fields have received some form of license from the government
Potential new North Sea oil and gas fields with early stage licences from the UK would emit as much carbon dioxide as British households produce in three decades.
The finding has led to calls to the government to reject demands from fossil fuel producers for the final permits needed to allow their operations to go ahead.
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Blob-headed fish and amphibious mouse among 27 new species found in ‘thrilling’ Peru expedition

Scientists surprised to find so many animals unknown to science in Alto Mayo, a well-populated region
Researchers in the Alto Mayo region of north-west Peru have discovered 27 species that are new to science, including a rare amphibious mouse, a tree-climbing salamander and an unusual “blob-headed fish”. The 38-day survey recorded more than 2,000 species of wildlife and plants.
The findings are particularly surprising given the region’s high human population density, with significant pressures including deforestation and agriculture.
Continue reading...
Country diary: This ‘unprofitable land’ could hardly be richer | Phil Gates

Teesdale, North Pennines: In this stretch between farmland and riverbank, the plant life is thick, and harbouring legions of insects and larvae
The poet Molly Holden celebrated edgelands like this footpath, where the passage of the plough never quite reaches. “The pieces of unprofitable land,” she wrote, “are what I like best.” The narrow path, between steep riverbank and farmland, links uncultivated triangular corners of the field, each headland bordered by the sweeping arc of waterlogged tractor ruts and hedges. They’re refuges for mugwort, docks, goosegrass and brome grass, now withered, weatherbeaten and run to seed, providing food for birds and replenishing the soil seed bank for the future. These are Holden’s “memories of former wilds”, the frontline in the annual tussle between arable and nature.
In winter the frontier, tilled and seeded, moves close to the edge of the path; any closer and the tractor might topple down a gully. Within weeks a counteroffensive begins, as red dead-nettle and speedwell seedlings appear among regimented rows of sprouted wheat. Come spring, the wild bridgehead advances further into arable territory. By next summer this path will be bordered with wild flowers, concealing runs of field mice that pilfer ripening grain.
Continue reading...
‘We’re still in survival mode’: anger persists in Valencia weeks after floods

Wreckage from Spain’s worst natural disaster this century may have been cleared but life for many remains in disarray
The warm Valencia air, still thick with dust and carrying a residual note of mud and damp concrete, begins to reek on the approach to the roadside dump where diggers toil, gulls scavenge and the detritus of countless everyday lives rises in mounds.
Almost two months on, the legacy of the worst natural disaster to hit Spain this century is equally evident in the oranges rotting on the trees, in the tens of thousands of cars stacked in makeshift graveyards, and in the fatigue of all those who still queue daily for food, nappies and toilet roll.
Continue reading...
Don’t be a beach bum: how to reduce your environmental footprint in the sand

Here are the simplest ways to have a sustainable summer holiday
- More summer essentials
- Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
With Australia’s love of an annual beach holiday comes a revolving door of new “must have” gear: sunshades, blow-up toys, fold-out chairs and endless gadgets to keep us entertained.
But how much of it do we really need, and what are the simplest ways to reduce your environmental footprint in the sand?
Continue reading...
Time to be shellfish: why the UK should go back to feasting on oysters and mussels

Popular in Victorian times, they are sustainable, a good source of protein and brilliant for biodiversity, say those championing the bivalves
A splash of white wine, a handful of basil leaves and a few minutes preparation are all it takes to transform mussels that 24 hours ago were filtering seawater off the south Devon coast, into a delicious starter.
At the training kitchen in London’s oldest fish market, Billingsgate, in Poplar, we learn that fresh mussels require two vital preparation steps that the vacuum-packed, cooked variety don’t: “debearding” or pulling off the “byssus” thread that attaches the shell to rocks and other substrate, and the discarding of any with broken or open shells
Continue reading...
‘If 1.5m Germans have them there must be something in it’: how balcony solar is taking off

Balcony solar panels can save 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill and, with vertical surface area in cities larger than roof space, the appeal is clear
They are easy to install, and knock chunks off electricity bills. It may not be Romeo and Juliet, but Spain’s balcony scene is heating up as the country embraces what has hitherto been a mainly German love affair with DIY plug-in solar panels.
Panels have already been installed on about 1.5m German balconies, where they are so popular the term Balkonkraftwerk (balcony power plant) has been coined.
Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Patients with high need should get own GP, says government

Surgeries will be financially rewarded if patients with long term conditions see the same GP each time.
AI is trained to spot warning signs in blood tests

AI can spot patterns in the data from blood tests that can give an early warning of disease.
Deaths from alcohol at record high in England

Public-health experts are calling for minimum pricing to stop further rises in harmful drinking.
Mother of girl operated on by disgraced surgeon says hospital 'gaslit' her

Jodee Seeley tells BBC Newsnight she is considering legal action against Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Hospices in England to receive £100m funding boost

Hospice leaders had warned they were being forced to close beds closing due to financial pressures.
Even morphine doesn't help my horrific period pain

Emily Handstock says she feels the pain women endure has been "normalised" by society.
Hospitals write off £112m in foreign patient bills

Hospitals say they often struggle to recover costs, particularly when patients return overseas.
'My former work colleague gave me her kidney'

Jamie Lonsdale made a donor plea on Facebook and was delighted when Lauren Lane answered the call.
Flu cases make NHS busier than ever with 95% of beds full

NHS England medical director warns hospitals under strain after sharp rise in flu cases.
Fix palliative care before assisted dying is introduced, doctors urge

Leading end-of-life doctors warn system is struggling, and changing law could make situation worse.

Eco Nature News feeds

‘I almost couldn’t believe it’: Amazon expedition stuns researchers

Conservation International researchers in Peru have uncovered a wealth of wildlife, including species new to science.
2024 in review: Amid hottest year on record, nature takes center stage

As 2024 comes to a close, global temperatures are at an all-time high — topping the previous hottest-year on record: 2023. Yet amid this backdrop, research consistently shows nature is a powerful climate ally.
Meet the scientist helping women find their voice

“Invest in one woman, and that ripples out to her family, her community and beyond. It changes people’s lives.”
Upon reflection: Study gauges grasslands’ climate-fighting powers

In southern Africa, grasses can beat the heat better than trees, according to Conservation International research.
Doctors without biodiversity? New plan prescribes actions linking human health, nature

An unheralded breakthrough at the recent UN biodiversity conference highlights the often-overlooked connection between our health and the planet’s, a Conservation International expert says.
In climate fight, ‘nature vs tech’ a false debate

A recent study on climate solutions downplays nature’s potential, two Conservation International experts say.
New study reveals seaweed’s hidden climate benefits

A new study found that seaweed forests may play a bigger role in fighting climate change than previously thought — absorbing as much climate-warming carbon as the Amazon rainforest. But not all seaweed forests are created equal.
A gift guide for the conscious consumer

For the conscientious consumer, finding the perfect present can be a challenge. Not to worry, Conservation International's 2024 gift guide has you covered.
Climate change charts a dangerous course for the world's largest fish

A Conservation International scientist shares what can be done to prevent an ‘outright alarming’ future for whale sharks.
How cool are forests? A hot new study has answers

A new Conservation International study measures the cooling effects of forests against extreme heat — with eye-opening results.

ECO HVAR: AIMS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHARITY

Environment

Health

Animals