A new project aims to strengthen young coastal dunes and tortoise habitats while improving wildfire prevention. Funding has been approved — but specific work sites, closures and dates have not yet been published.
The government gives the funding agreement the green light
On 27 August 2026, the Croatian government approved the signing of a funding agreement for a nature-conservation project in Mljet National Park. Its total value is almost €2 million, of which more than €1.6 million is to be provided as a grant.
Such a decision provides the financial basis. It does not prove that work has begun or that individual areas have already been restored. No construction, procurement or closure plans have yet been published.
Embryonic dunes are small but still important
Embryonic dunes are the early stages of coastal-dune development. Wind, sand and the first specialised plants shape a sensitive habitat that can quickly be disturbed by trampling, vehicles and construction.
The project is intended to restore such areas. The government announcement does not yet say exactly where work will take place on Mljet, which methods will be used or whether paths will be temporarily diverted.
Tortoises need connected habitat
The second priority is protecting and restoring tortoise habitats. What matters is not only individual animals, but suitable food, cover, soil and safe connections between separate areas.
Visitors can help by not touching, moving or crowding animals for a photograph. A tortoise on a path is not a souvenir and is not automatically in need of help. Park staff should be contacted if an animal is visibly injured.
Here, wildfire protection also means landscape management
The project also plans to restore existing fire-access tracks and remove vegetation along these corridors. Such lines improve access for emergency crews and can help limit the spread of a fire.
They are not, however, a promise that wildfires will not occur. Weather, fuel, topography, early detection and firefighting capacity all interact. The work must also be designed so that conservation is not weakened by unnecessarily broad clearings.
Three goals need different measures of success
For dunes, vegetation development and stability can be monitored; for tortoises, habitat quality and use; and for wildfire protection, the condition and accessibility of the tracks. One figure, such as the amount spent, therefore says little about success.
A reliable assessment needs baseline data, measurable targets and later monitoring. These details are not included in the brief approval notice and should be examined separately when published.
What visitors to the national park may notice
Marked protection zones, temporary path diversions, maintenance work or instructions to keep a distance may follow later. No specific closure can currently be inferred, however. Visitors should rely only on up-to-date notices from the national park.
Walking off marked paths to find a supposed project site would be precisely the wrong response. Conservation measures are not an additional viewpoint, but work on sensitive habitats.
The difference between a project and a result
The objectives, funding volume and political approval of the agreement have been confirmed. The exact locations, timetable, procurement, start of work and completion remain open. Golden Beach therefore neither depicts an alleged work site nor claims that an area has already been saved.
The article can be expanded once the national park or ministry publishes details of implementation. Until then, the important position is that Mljet has a funded conservation package whose effects must still be demonstrated on the ground.
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, grant and restoration of dunes, tortoise habitats and fire-access tracks
- 196th session of the Government of the Republic of CroatiaGovernment of the Republic of Croatia · 27 August 2026, checked 28 August 2026approval to sign the funding agreement for Mljet National Park
