ŠKOCJANSKI ZATOK

Škocjan Bay - Conflicts About a Unique Nature Area

J.P. Hesselink

Skocjan Bay is a brackish Mediterranean wetland at the edge of Koper. It forms a part of the Slovenian coast, and is the remainder of the saltpans that once surrounded the former island town of Koper. For many decades, it provided habitats for many species, especially for birds. Some of the names of those species can be found on lists of rare and endangered animals. In spite of the protection of the bay under several national and international laws and conventions, it is currently under threat to be filled, in favour of the expansion of the economic activities in Koper.

To the inhabitants of Koper it might seem, that nothing is being done to either improve the nature values of the bay, which severely degraded since the beginning of the eighties, or to fill it completely. This is the result of the fact that the different actors involved in the decision-making around the future of Skocjan Bay have been ignoring each others ideas and wishes from the very beginning. At present, they are trying to find a way out of the conflicts that arose as a result of a one-sided view on problems concerning the environment, and the attitude of the actors towards each other.

Skocjan Bay

Skocjan Bay is a shallow lagoon of some 100 ha near the city of Koper. The shallowness of the water in the area creates possibilities for the mixing of freshwater from the rivers and seawater to occur, which establishes the for Slovenia rare, brackish conditions in Skocjan Bay.

The bay is embedded between the city of Koper in the west, the port of Koper and accompanying business centres in the north, a highway and railroad in the south and agricultural fields in the east.

It consists of two parts, which are connected to each other by openings under the railway dike. The freshwater lake Jezerca, situated between the highway and the railroad, is supplied by freshwater from underground sources and is an important breeding place for birds. The rest of the bay is very shallow, approximately 20 cm on average, as a result of mud from the harbour basins being spilled into the bay and spreading over the whole bottom. The bay is connected to the sea by a 30 m wide channel, which leads from the northern edge of the bay through the area of the port of Koper, allowing seawater to come in during high tide and water to flow out of the bay during low tide. The rivers Badasevica and Rizana once provided the bay with freshwater. Redirection of the rivers, however, resulted in a lack of freshwater in the bay. This causes oxygen deficiency, the final result of which is stench spreading over the bay, mainly in spring and early summer when the temperature is rising.

Physical development of Skocjan Bay

The origin of Skocjan Bay is strongly connected to the urbanistic development of Koper and its surroundings. In the 19th century the city of Koper was still situated on an island. The area between the island and the mainland consisted of saltpans. At the beginning of the twentieth century the saltpans were left abandoned, and in the 1930’s a beginning was made to dry the saltpans up and regulate the waterstreams. As a result of these works Koper was finally connected to the mainland. After World War II the works were continued, and in the fifties the port of Koper was built which spread from Koper towards the Italian border. Skocjan Bay became increasingly closed towards the sea. Realisation of other buildings, roads and railways until the end of the 1970’s further reduced the surface of the bay. In these times, Skocjan Bay was an important area for all kinds of birds and plants. The estuaries of two rivers and an open connection to the sea favoured a rich bioproduction and a high diversity of flora and fauna.

The redirection of the Badasevica and the Rizana resulted in stench spreading over the bay, and in 1985 this led to the ecologically most unreasonable decision: to fill the bay up. The port of Koper started filling the bay with mud acquired at the deepening of one of the harbours. It spilt across the whole bay causing the destruction of the original bottom. The conditions in the bay strongly degraded, including in the 35 ha area which the Municipality destined to become a nature reserve. Only after the Ministry of Culture intervened with a decree on temporary protection of the bay in 1993, the activities degrading the nature values in the bay slowly

stopped and a revitalisation of the conditions was visible in an increase in the presence of species.

Species in Skocjan Bay

The ecosystem of Skocjan Bay can be described as a half-closed system of brackish standing water. It is bordered by typical halophyte wetland vegetation on one side and halophytic sludge vegetation on the other. On the salty bottom, which covers the whole bay, only halophytes can thrive. They congregate into specific plant associations. A special characteristic of the bay are the reed beds that stretch in the southern parts of the bay. Besides common reed (Phragmites australis) we find halophytic species instead of the usual wetland species. This is the only place in Slovenia where Triglochin maritimus grows, a rare species in the Mediterranean wetlands.

For numerous vertebrates and invertebrates Skocjan Bay provides favourable conditions, including the rare and endangered green toad (Bufo viridis) and the smallest European mammal, the etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus).

Skocjan Bay is mainly important from ornithological point of view. It is one of the most important localities for birds in Slovenia. Between 1979 and 1993 ornithologists observed 195 species of birds, 120 of which were either in transition or wintering and 75 species nesting permanently or occasionally. Many endangered species of global and European significance rest in this most northerly Mediterranean wetland during their migrations. The bay is part of the Adriatic-Tunesian migratory route.

Because of the rash interventions in the bay during the eighties the species diversity as well as the number of individuals drastically declined. Creation of a compensatory biotope in Skocjan Bay would enable wintering, breeding and resting during migration for even more species and a greater number of birds. Creating a biotope for birds as the top of the foodchain, thus entails creating suitable conditions for the whole foodchain; i.e., for plants and animals.

Nature reserve

Nature conservationists developed plans to establish a nature reserve in Skocjan Bay. There are many arguments in favour of protection of Skocjan Bay, to preserve it as a wetland of national and international importance. Those arguments are used by the parties advocating the establishment of a nature reserve in the bay; the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning supports the ideas of Ixobrychus (Ornithological Society Koper) and DOPPS (Bird Watching and Bird Studying Association of Slovenia), and other institutions.

The idea is to protect the whole current surface of the bay, and there might be an option to expand the area towards the agricultural fields at the eastern border of the bay. An information centre is planned, with lecture rooms, sleeping rooms, a service area, a bird ringing station and an exhibition room. An educational path and a bird observatory are part of the planned nature reserve as well. Ecosystem restoration will be necessary to recreate the desired nature values in the bay. The Water Management Institute in Ljubljana is preparing the corresponding plans.

Economic aspects

On the other side there are, however, many arguments speaking against preservation of Skocjan Bay as a wetland. They are primarily advocated by the Municipality of Koper, and the ideas of the Municipality about the future of Skocjan Bay were so different from the ideas of the ornithologists, that the conflict resulted in a ‘war’ between the different parties, which is now tried to be solved by negotiation.

After World War II Koper became the most important town on the Slovene coast, but its real development started after the association with Yugoslavia in 1954. With the loss of Trieste to the Italians, it was necessary to create a new regional centre with a strong economy. A new port was build to counteract the loss of the port of Trieste. Since that time, the port has been the carrier of the economic progress. Transport, infrastructure, migratory politics and structuring of economic development were all adapted to the development of the port. All the activities around it offer jobs to every fifth employee in Koper. From the former trade, craft and later saltfarming, fishing and winegrowing centre, Chopper developed into a big industrial centre with a well-developed oversea transport. The city of Koper is one of the most important ports, traffic and transport junctions and commercial centres of Central Europe, owing to its advantageous strategic geographic position.

The position of Skocjan Bay between the city of Koper, its port and the existing infrastructure connecting the area to the hinterland, almost invites planners to consider it as a possible extension area for the economic sector in Koper. In fact, there is little other surface available to realise such plans.

Skocjan Bay was destined to be dried up already for a very long time. The deserted saltpans did not have much value in themselves, and only after the first regulatory works were carried out, did the area gain value as an ecosystem of special importance. Until nature conservationists interfered in the eighties, the local authority neglected the intrinsic value the bay had gained as brackish wetland and an important area for migratory birds; work was still continuing towards realisation of the old plans which envisioned the area to bring economic profit.

Conflicts

If it would have been only for the different opinions about the future of Skocjan Bay, a final solution could have been worked out a long time ago. It is however the one-sided view on development problems, which is to be blamed for the fact that no final decision has been made so far. When in 1993 the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning decided to interfere in the policy-making of the Municipality of Koper, to protect the bay from complete destruction, the nature conservationists saw themselves backed up by a powerful institution. Like the Municipality, they were not inclined to make any concessions regarding their claims on the bay. The different parties were flatly opposed to each other. Currently, they are trying to work out a compromise. Especially the Municipality had to give in; over the last decade environmental awareness and the concept of sustainability are beginning to play a bigger role in decision-making. The preservation of the global environment is becoming a field of great concern for decision-makers on all levels.

Future

The final decision about the future of Skocjan Bay lies in the hands of Slovenia’s Parliament. There are high hopes, that a nature reserve in Skocjan Bay will finally be realised, and that a high species diversity in Skocjan Bay can be preserved. In the times, that our natural environment is becoming more and more endangered, we have to take very good care of the remainders of nature, and realise that it forms the basis of our existence. We have to work on the preservation of nature together, and put efforts on all levels, from global to local and the individual level. Implementation of a planning-system based on the concept of sustainable development can help local authorities to avoid escalation of similar conflicts in the future, and unique nature areas like Skocjan Bay will have a better chance to survive within an environment which is increasingly shaped by Man.

source: Hesselink, J.P., Sustainability War Around Skocjan Bay - Economy vs. Ecology, Ljubljana, October 1996

Jose Hesselink

Tolsteegplantsoen 51-3

NL- 3523 AP Utrecht

THE NETHERLANDS

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