An environmentally friendly Earthanchor system is to replace individual anchoring in the Kornati National Park in future. The reason for this is to protect the seagrass meadows (Posidonia) in the Kornati archipelago. The seagrass is important for the planet's ecosystem as it absorbs carbon dioxide and provides oxygen through photosynthesis. The meadows also serve as a nursery for a number of sea creatures. Thousands of anchormen per season have increasingly jeopardised these important habitats.
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New environmentally friendly marbling system
With the support of the EU, the Kornati National Park therefore began installing 90 buoys of the new Earthanchor system in eight bays as early as 2024. This no longer involves sinking concrete blocks weighing several tonnes to the bottom, as was previously common practice in the Mediterranean: instead, the Earthanchor consists of a borehole in the seabed into which a steel anchor is "shot".
The interference is thus minimal. A rope is shackled to the anchor, to which a buoy is attached at the top. Boats and yachts up to 16 metres in length can be moored to this.
All designated bays in the Kornati islands
According to the National Park Director Šime Ježina, in future all 19 designated anchor bays (Stiniva, Statival, Lupeška, Tomasovac/Suha punta, Šipnate, Lučica, Kravljačica, Strižnja, Vrulje, Gujak, Opat, Smokvica, Ravni Žakan, Lavsa, Piškera/Vela Panitula, Anica and Lojena on Levrnaka, Podbižanj, Koromačna) a total of over 200 of the new mooring buoys were anchored. The work is technically complex, so it is not yet possible to say when it will be completed.
The Kornati National Park
The Kornati National Park off the Adriatic coast of Croatia comprises 89 islands of all sizes. It has been a nature reserve since 1980 and offers spectacular karst landscapes without watercourses, largely free of dense vegetation. The impressive cliffs and hidden bays are popular destinations for boat crews and ideal for diving and snorkelling. The largest island is Kornat, from which the entire archipelago takes its name. It is 25 kilometres long, but only 2.5 kilometres wide at most. The administration of the Kornati National Park is located on the island of Murter.
