Eco Hvar

Insect spraying: the campaign

Because we at Eco Hvar are very concerned about the shortcomings of the mosquito liquidation programme on Hvar and around Croatia, we have petitioned the Minister for Health to re-consider the methods used.

Insect spraying: the campaign
The Minister for Health is responsible for the Regulations governing the prevention of infectious diseases in Croatia. Control of supposedly dangerous insects and animals such as rodents is compulsory. Every local authority is obliged to carry out appropriate measures. The methods of control are a matter for the discretion of the local authorities. Having observed the situation for several years, we at Eco Hvar have concluded that the current methods used on Hvar and in many other areas of Croatia are faulty, ineffective, and potentially dangerous in ways that are not being recognized by those responsible for the programme. You can read the original text in Croatian and the responses to the campaign from the Minister and others here.
 
This is the English translation of our letter to Minister Kujundžić, which was accompanied by a statement detailing our causes for concern backed by scientific and official reference sources supporting our assertions:
 
"Pitve, 23.08.2017.
prof.dr.sc.Milan Kujundžić, dr.med.primarius, FEBGH, Minister of Health,
Ministarstvo zdravstva
Trg Svetog Marka 2
10000 Zagreb, Hrvatska

Dear Sir,

Re: Insect spraying

Our Charity Eco Hvar has for some years been observing the practice of insect spraying, which is a legal requirement.

One question which arises is whether it is really necessary to eliminate insects in order to prevent illnesses such as Dengue and West Nile Fever, when these illnesses are extremely rare in Dalmatia.

Furthermore, we have been gathering details of the insect suppression programme over these years, as much as we can, and we are of the opinion that this requirement is being carried out in an way which is neither fitting nor transparent, whether on Hvar or in other parts of Croatia. The method used is inappropriate for people, the environment, animals, and beneficial insects (eg bees). This applies particularly to the substances which are being used by the firms authorized to carry out insect suppression.

Attached are the conclusions which we have come to, together with some of our reference sources.

We are sending this letter and the attachments not only to the institutions listed, but also to the wider public domain, through the channels for public information and the civil society associations.

Yours faithfully,

Vivian Grisogono MA(Oxon)

President, Eco Hvar

This letter and the attachments are sent in both written and electronic forms

c.c.
- Minister Dr.sc.Tomislav Ćorić, Ministry for the Protection of the Environment and Energy
- Minister Tomislav Tolušić, Ministry of Agriculture.
- Mr. sc. Jasna Ninčević, dr. med., spec. epidemiologije, Director, Public Health Institution for the Split-Dalmatia County
- Croatian Public Health Institution, Department for Ecological Health
- Dr.sc.Ivana Gudelj, Director of the State Institution for Environmental Protection
- Blaženko Boban, Prefect for the Split-Dalmatia County
- Mayors of Hvar Island"

The reply from the Minister is on the Croatian page, together with a reply from the Minsitry of Agriculture and initial correspondence with the Split-Dalmatian Institute for Public Health: http://www.eco-hvar.com/hr/opasni-otrovi/236-dezinsekcija-kampanja-za-promjenu

There was no evidence of willingness to take our complaints and observations seriously.

 
 
back to top
You are here: Home poisons be aware Insect spraying: the campaign

Eco Environment News feeds

  • Frozen in time: Antarctic ice cave to be used to save melting glacier samples

    Ice Memory Foundation’s specially dug ‘sanctuary’ offers storage for cores, which hold thousands of years of history

    Last month the Ice Memory Foundation opened the first ever sanctuary for mountain ice cores in Antarctica, where samples will be stored for centuries to come.

    The cores, typically 10cm in diameter and a metre or more long, are stored in a specially excavated ice cave. The first to be laid down came from two Alpine glaciers that are rapidly shrinking.

    Continue reading...

  • Seals, shipwrecks and a screaming swallower: Underwater Photographer of the Year 2026 – in pictures

    The annual competition draws thousands of entries from across the world and brings together images from below the water’s surface that show the diversity and challenges of subaquatic life

    Continue reading...

  • ‘The river won’: how campaigners in Brazilian Amazon stopped privatisation of waterway

    Local river defenders force U-turn by occupying grain terminal operated by one of US powerhouses of world trade

    “A victory for life.” That was the triumphal message from Indigenous campaigners in the Brazilian Amazon this week after they staved off a threat to the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the United States.

    “The river won, the forest won, the memory of our ancestors won,” said the campaigners in Santarém when it was clear their actions had forced the Brazilian government into a U-turn on plans to privatise one of the world’s most beautiful waterways and expand its role as a soy canal.

    Continue reading...

  • Country diary: A wet walk is worth it for the spoonbills | Elizabeth-Jane Burnett

    Isley Marsh, Devon: The birdlife is mostly staying still in the downpour, not least these large, striking waders that we’re lucky to have here

    Rain washes across the saltmarsh, numbing my lips and fingers. The deluge is unavoidable, as it has been all year. It’s been one of the wettest winters on record and harder to get around. Glimpsing a huddle of white feathers, I try to silence my squelching, not wanting to disturb the sheltering bird. Its wings flare, as though preparing for flight, but the little egret remains in place. It considers the pool at its feet, buffered from the rain by the reeds.

    Behind it, the silver River Taw winds into the estuary. Standing on the track, I catch the shimmering white breasts of lapwings at the water’s edge, fluttering like the tail of a kite before takeoff. They ripple but do not fully rise. The only real movement is from the water. Rain sheets in from the side; the river surges with the tide while the rest of us stand, crouch or falter in the murk, unable to muster the same momentum.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Magic beneath the surface’: pioneering geothermal plant launched in Cornwall

    A new mini power station and lithium extraction facility near Redruth are set to bolster green energy and create jobs

    Just outside the perimeter fence stand the hulking remains of grand stone engine houses, a testament to Cornwall’s proud tin and copper mining history.

    But inside is a shiny new mini power station and lithium extraction plant that is once again accessing rich underground resources in the far south-west of Britain.

    Continue reading...

  • Riding the wave: can surf tourism save Peru’s ancient reed-boat fishing culture?

    As fish stocks dwindle, surf tourism may offer a lifeline to traditional caballitos de totora fishers, whose vessels are thought to be among the first ever used to ride waves

    Just before dawn, in a scene that has repeated itself over thousands of years on the north coast of Peru, fishers drag boats made of bound reeds to the water’s edge and, kneeling on them, use paddles shaped from split bamboo to row out into the Pacific Ocean to catch their breakfast. A few hours later, these surfer fishers return with netfuls of their catch, riding waves on the final stretch back to the shore. From the main beach in Huanchaco – a seaside town near the city of Trujillo – the fish are taken to sell at the market or to beachfront restaurants preparing meals for tourists.

    The four-metre-long reed vessels – known as caballitos detotorain Spanish, or “little reed horses” – are placed upright on their ends by the promenade on El Mogote beach so that the seawater drains away and they are ready to be used the next morning.

    Continue reading...

  • Tropical plants flowering months earlier or later because of climate crisis – study

    Changes threaten ecosystems as flowering falls out of sync with fruit-eating, seed-dispersing animals and pollinators

    Tropical flowers are blooming months earlier or later than they used to because of climate breakdown, with potentially “cascading impacts across ecosystems”, according to a study of 8,000 plants dating back 200 years.

    Researchers looked at flowers from a range of countries, including Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana and Thailand, home to the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, but also the most understudied.

    Continue reading...

  • Dirty water, death and decline: the inside story of a privatisation scandal

    There is no end in sight to the pollution caused by a ‘broken’ system. Experts say it could even be getting worse

    Sarah Lambert took her usual morning swim for 40 minutes off Exmouth town beach before her volunteer shift helping disabled people get access to the water.

    A wheelchair user herself, Lambert’s regular sea swims twice a week between the lifeboat station and HeyDays restaurant were the perfect form of exercise for her disability.

    Continue reading...

  • ‘Who’d guess they’re the same species?’ What Italy’s wall lizards reveal about genetic diversity and why it matters

    Understanding biodiversity within species is key to our understanding of why nature works the way it does, say researchers

    • Words and photographs by Roberto García-Roa

    Twelve miles from the heart of Rome, Dr Javier Ábalos pauses his walk, lifts his sunglasses and points. To his right, perched on a rocky wall, sits a beautiful lizard. Its body is coated in charcoal-black tones speckled with striking yellow across a green dorsum, and its head, with a prominent jaw, is splashed with fluorescent blue spots. The reptile basks in the sun, unconcerned by our presence.

    About 80 miles (130km) drive farther along the road that connects the capital with the small village of Poggio di Roio, the researcher from the University of Valencia has barely stepped out of the car when he spots another lizard. This one is smaller, with a brownish body and a narrower head crisscrossed by a network of dark stripes.

    Researchers fear the common wall lizard of the white morph could be driven to extinction by the arrival of a new variation

    Continue reading...

  • ‘I live in constant fear’: surge in giant sinkholes threatens Turkey’s farmers

    Falling groundwater, extreme heat and water-intensive farming are accelerating land collapse, forcing a rethink in agricultural practices

    Fatih Sik was drinking tea with friends at home when he heard a rumbling sound outside that grew to a loud boom, like a volcano had erupted nearby. From the window, he saw water and mud shoot into the sky, as high as the tallest trees, less than 100 metres away.

    The 47-year-old knew what it was, because it is common in Karapınar, Konya, a vast agricultural province known as Turkey’s breadbasket. A giant sinkhole had opened up on his land. Fifty metres wide and 40 metres deep, it had appeared almost a year to the day after a previous one had formed. It was August – the hottest month of the year.

    Continue reading...

Eco Health News feeds

Eco Nature News feeds

Copyright © 2026 Eco Hvar. All Rights Reserved. Developed by Orion Informatika.