Environmental moorings are planned at twelve locations in the nature park. What has been approved is the project’s funding — not immediate use, a reservation system or any new permission to anchor.
The funding agreement has been approved, not an opening
On 27 August 2026, the Croatian government approved the signing of a funding agreement for a conservation project in Lastovo Nature Park. The published value is €2.2 million. Its centrepiece is 112 environmental moorings at twelve locations.
This decision is a funding step. It does not mean that 112 new buoys are already in the water, inspected or available to book. The government announcement gives no opening date, permission to use them or reservation portal.
Why environmental moorings are about more than convenience
Free anchoring can damage sensitive seagrass meadows when an anchor lands in the vegetation and its chain drags across the seabed as the boat swings. A properly designed mooring keeps the load at a fixed point and can reduce repeated contact with the bottom.
Whether it achieves this at every location depends on the substrate, sizing, maintenance and actual use. Calling a system environmental is no substitute for technical documentation or subsequent inspections.
The project extends beyond moorings
According to the environment ministry, the project also includes cleaning beaches, the coastline and underwater areas. It further provides for monitoring species and marine quality, educational measures and the removal of invasive lionfish.
The project thus combines visitor management, waste removal and nature conservation. The brief description published so far does not reveal which measure will begin first or how much funding is allocated to each element.
Twelve locations are not yet a published chart
The government information states the number of locations, but provides no complete list with coordinates, depths and capacities. Skippers should therefore not plan for a bay to become a mooring field solely on the basis of the project total.
Only notices to mariners, park information and the actual marked installations will be authoritative. Until then, the existing rules, protected zones and local instructions remain unchanged.
Price, operator and booking remain unresolved
No fees, operator, maximum boat sizes, seasonal operating periods or booking arrangements have yet been published. EU or state funding does not automatically mean that a facility will be free to use.
Anyone planning a voyage should treat existing official anchoring and mooring facilities separately from this new project. A political approval notice does not replace existing charts.
What skippers can do until the project is implemented
Observe anchoring bans, zoning and instructions from park staff, and use existing moorings only in accordance with their markings. Where free anchoring is permitted, avoid seagrass, keep sufficient distance, and allow for weather and the swinging circle.
A buoy without clear identification is not automatically a visitor mooring. Lines, fittings and load capacity must suit the vessel; if anything is unclear, the park authority is a better source than an app containing old user entries.
The next reliable milestone
Practical use becomes ready to report only when the locations, design, rules and start date are officially published. It will then be possible to assess which bays will be relieved and whether navigation for visitors genuinely changes.
The news is nevertheless relevant: a specific, funded conservation package has been approved for Lastovo. Golden Beach will not, however, turn it into a port service that is already available.
Evidence
Sources & date
Sources support the facts. Planning notes and recommendations are Golden Beach editorial assessments.
- New decisions within the remit of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition adopted at the government’s 196th sessionCroatian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition · 27 August 2026, checked 28 August 2026project value, 112 environmental moorings at twelve locations, and cleaning, monitoring, education and lionfish-removal measures
- 196th session of the Government of the Republic of CroatiaGovernment of the Republic of Croatia · 27 August 2026, checked 28 August 2026government decision approving the signing of the funding agreement
