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At the founding meeting in Ljubljana, its participants 
agreed that within the framework of the founding activi­
ties of the Slovenian National Bioplatform they would 
initially name a number of experts from various scien- 
tific-research institutions, prepare a list of professional 
institutions and non-governmental organisations con­
nected with the biodiversity research in Slovenia and a 
list of experts at the competent ministries. These lists 
will be applicable during the setting up of the so-called 
"Slovenian Biodiversity Network". In the following phase 
we intend to prepare a catalogue of the current research 
and applicative projects in the field of biodiversity and 
systematic monitoring of interventions into our natural 
environment. With the support given by the Ministry of 
School Education, Science and Sports, the Slovenian 
National Bioplatform has been enabled, as early as 
during its establishment, to appear on the World-Wide 
Web. Within the framework of the ministerial websites 
www.rtd.si earmarked for information on research pro­
grammes, call for tenders in the national research pro­
gramme and target research programmes, we have given 
information support to the SNB with all the necessary 
links to the suitable international websites. The SNB 
website works within the information framework cover­
ing the research activities by the EU and the Republic of 
Slovenia in the field of sustainable development and 
global changes in the EU's 6th general programme.
The participants of the SNB's founding meeting in 
Ljubljana in January 2003 believed that the establish­
ment of SNB is an exceptional opportunity for further 
integration and communication of the Slovenian profes­
sional public, which is any possible way associated with 
biodiversity, but at the same time represents a forum for 
reconciliation of the priority research projects.
Ales Gnamus
Lovrenc Lipej
REPORT ON ACTIVITIES FOR LONG-TERM CONSER­
VATION OF THE POSIDONIA OCEANICA MEADOW 
IN SLOVENIA
Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile is, together with Cy- 
modocea nodosa (U.) Ascherson, the most common 
seagrass in the Mediterranean. It is widespread in the 
entire basin, except in the area close to the Strait of Gi­
braltar, Northern Adriatic, coastal waters of Israel, 
Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, and the Black Sea. Accord­
ing to Benacchio (1938), it used to be quite common 
also on the silty bottom of the Gulf of Trieste in the 
Northern Adriatic. Further investigations showed, how­
ever, a drastic change in its distribution in this north­
ernmost part of the Adriatic. It is very likely that at pres­
ent there is only one very restricted meadow of P. oce­
anica in the Gulf of Trieste. The area is in Slovene 
coastal waters between the towns of Koper and Izola. A 
preliminary and approximate mapping of the area car­
ried out in 1993 showed that the meadow is approxi­
mately 1 km long, starting close to the coastline (water 
depth from 0.2 to 0.5 m) and extending 50 m from the 
shore (water depth app. 4 m). The meadow consists of 
several P. oceanica islands of different sizes and shapes 
and does not fit into normal meadow types.
The meadow has been included in the local physical 
plans as a future protected area. At the same time the 
Slovene government decreed P. oceanica a rare and en­
dangered species; the decreee was adopted by the na­
tional parliament in 2002. Furthermore, P. oceanica is 
listed in Annex II of the Protocol concerning Specially 
Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediter­
ranean as endangered species, while the EU Habitat Di­
rective 92/43/EEC of 21st of May 1992 defines its mead­
ows as priority habitat type. The protection of P. oce­
anica and its meadows is thus one of the top priorities in 
the sphere of nature conservation. However, in order to 
suitably define the potential threats and apply efficient 
conservation measures for this unique meadow, further 
research and monitoring were necessary.
The importance of further research and monitoring is 
even greater due to the planned changes concerning the 
main coastal road that at present runs virtually along the 
coastline. The new road, which is bound to be built in 
the forthcoming years, will be shifted into a tunnel and 
will, as a consequence, "free" the coastline and make it 
available for other activities, mainly recreation and 
tourism. Due to it, increased pressure for beach en­
largement, piers, maritime traffic and other recreational 
and tourist facilities is expected. Without suitable legis­
lation, accurate maps of the sea floor and its habitat 
types, a well-defined monitoring and awareness cam­
paign, the expected pressure for the development of rec­
reational facilities could jeopardise the conservation of 
the meadow.
Within the framework of the SAP BIO project (Strate­
gic Action Plan for the Conservation of Marine and 
Coastal Biodiversity in the Mediterranean Region), car­
ried out by the Regional Activity Centre for Specially 
Protected Areas in Tunis, National Reports were pre­
pared in order to define the state of art in the field of 
biodiversity conservation and to foresee the due future 
activities. In the Slovene National Report, 14 priority 
actions were listed, including activities concerning legal 
protection, research and monitoring programme for P. 
oceanica. As a follow-up of the National Report, a Na­
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tional Action Plan for the conservation of the P. oce­
ánica meadow was drafted. Its main objectives are in 
line with the RAC/SPA Action Plan for the conservation 
of marine vegetation in the Mediterranean Sea, adopted 
by the contracting parties to the Barcelona Convention 
in 1999 and with the provisions of the EU Habitat direc­
tive. The main targets of the action plan could be 
summed as follows:
- legal protection of P. oceánica and establishment 
of a protected area that would enclose the dealt with 
meadow;
- better knowledge of the extension of the area cov­
ered by P. oceánica based on accurate cartography of 
the meadow;
- better knowledge of the main ecological parame­
ters in the area covered by the meadow;
- public awareness raising.
Memorandum of Understanding
The possibility to carry out most of the activities, 
foreseen in the action plan, came with the signing of the 
Memorandum of Understanding (referred hereafter as 
MoU) by the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for 
Nature Conservation, the International Cooperation for 
Environment and Development of the Principality of 
Monaco, and the Regional Activity Centre for Specially 
Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) of the Barcelona Conven­
tion. According to MoU, the Institute of the Republic of 
Slovenia for Nature Conservation should carry out, 
through its Regional Office Piran, various activities 
aimed at providing for efficient, long-term conservation 
of the P. oceánica meadow, by which it would fulfil 
some of the actions foreseen in the Action Plan for the 
Conservation of Marine Vegetation in the Mediterranean 
Sea. To undertake this activities, financial support is to 
be granted by the International Cooperation for Envi­
ronment and Development of the Principality of Mon­
aco and RAC/SPA.
Implementation of the activities
The activities foreseen in the action plan and fi­
nanced according to MoU were carried out in 2003. 
The Regional Office in Piran coordinated all the activi­
ties and at the same time attempted to "use" them as a 
tool to increase public awareness concerning nature 
conservation. A short description of the activities is 
given hereafter.
Aerial photography
Mapping of seagrass meadows has become and in­
dispensable tool not only for developing and managing 
the coastal area but also for a proper research and 
monitoring of the meadows' structure and dynamics in
view of their management and protection. Aerial pho­
tography and further image processing appears to be a 
technique particularly suitable in shallow waters, as it is 
the case of the investigated P. oceanica meadow. The 
aerial photographs were taken and processed in the 
winter of 2002/2003 in order to ensure greater transpar­
ency of the water and at the same time to take advan­
tage of the "absence" of Cymodocea nodosa meadows. 
The results of aerial photography were checked later on 
by SCUBA diving. On the basis of aerial photos and 
field data, a map of the meadow was made. The task 
was carried out in collaboration with the Group for 
Coastal Ecosystems at the University of Corte (Corsica). 
The mapping of the meadow, together with other activi­
ties such as marking the lower limit, will allow us to 
prepare a long-term monitoring programme for the 
meadow and other habitat types present in the area.
Study of the main ecological parameters in the meadow
In order to improve our knowledge on the environ­
mental conditions that influence the development of the 
meadow, a programme for the study of the main eco­
logical parameters was prepared in collaboration with 
the National Institute of Biology - Marine Biology Sta­
tion in Piran. The investigation, which was carried out 
twice - in the winter and summer of 2003 - included 
investigation of the following parameters:
- light conditions on the sea floor;
- sedimentation rate;
- microphytobenthos species;
- microphytobenthos primary production;
- meiofauna species;
- nutrients in interstitial water;
- sediment metabolism expressed through respiration.
Sampling in the seagrass meadow of Posidonia oce­
anica. (Photo: J. Forte)
Vzorcevanje na travniku pozidonije. (Foto: J. Forte)
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Marking the lower limit of the meadow
In order to be able to monitor the development of 
the meadow, 6 marks were placed at its lower limit, 
while 4 of them were used to mark the outer border of a 
single patch. In accordance with the methodology used 
in GIS Posidonie, photographs of the situation were 
taken in order to enable a follow-up of the evolution of 
the meadow and the eventual changes in its lower lim­
its.
Installing signposts
Owing to the fact that the meadow is located in urban 
area with somewhat intense recreational use, especially 
in summer, the signposts constitute an important tool in 
spreading the awareness of the importance of the 
meadow and its conservation. Taking into account the 
specificity of the area, two signposts, explaining the main 
characteristics as well as importance of P. oceanica and 
the conservation measures adopted, were foreseen.
Public awareness raising
As mentioned above, all the activities were used as a 
tool to raise public awareness concerning the impor­
tance of the meadow and the need for its conservation. 
However, a special event was organised in order to in­
form the public on the activities carried out within the 
framework of the project. This event included a press 
conference, a field trip, lectures by Gerard Pergent and 
Christine Pergent-Martini from the University of Corte, 
and exhibition dedicated to P. oceanica meadows, their 
importance and role.
Future activities
Two main sets of activities are foreseen and needed 
in the near future. The first concerns the meadow's legal 
protection. The activities include above all establish­
ment of a protected area and definition of its manage­
ment. The implementation of this activities depends 
primarily on the Ministry of Environment, Physical Plan­
ning and Energy and to a lesser extent on the Institute of 
the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation. These 
activities are a must, as the area is also a proposed Na- 
tura 2000 site.
The second set of activities concerns the monitoring 
of the area - development of the meadow and other 
habitat types, checking out the species list, ecological 
parameters, etc. The monitoring is to be performed in 
concordance with the methodology used by GIS Posi­
donie. This would allow a suitable comparison with the 
results obtained in other parts of the Mediterranean.
At the end of this short report on the activities carried 
out with the aim to provide for efficient, long-term con­
servation of the only P. oceanica meadow in the Slo­
vene sea and in the entire Gulf of Trieste, I would like to 
express my cordial thanks to the International Coopera­
tion for Environment and Development of the Principal­
ity of Monaco, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially 
Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) of the Barcelona Conven­
tion, and to the MAP Coordination Unit in Athens for 
their financial and technical support.
Posidonia oceanica (Photo / Foto: T. Makovec)
Robert Turk
QUANTO VALE LA COSTA DI MUGGIA?
LA PAROLA AGLI ESPERTI
II 25 Gennaio 2003 si é tenuto a Muggia un incontro 
pubblico dal provocatorio titolo "Quanto vale la costa di 
Muggia? La parola agí i esperti". L'iniziativa ha visto la 
partecipazione di numerosi esperti, i quali hanno messo 
in luce le caratteristiche peculiari del litorale mugge- 
sano sotto diversi punti di vista. La folta schiera di asso- 
ciazioni promotrici, tra queste l'Associazione Mi- 
cologica Bresadola, il CAI, ¡I Circolo Istria, la Fameia 
Muiesana, Italia Nostra, Lega Ambiente, la Societa di 
Studi Nettuno, II Comitato SOS Muggia e il WWF, 
hanno infatti sentito la necessita di conoscere e far 
conoscere ¡I litorale muggesano in vista dei progetti di 
interramento e di creazione di nuove strutture portuali 
turistiche previsti nel PRG del Comune di Muggia.
I primi due interventi hanno definito l'area dal punto 
di vista storico-archeologico. In particolare, il dott. 
Franco Stener del la Fameia Muiesana ha i I lustrato i 
confini geografici e storici del territorio muggesano ed 
ha delineato i limiti del lo sviluppo turístico ed eco­
nómico del territorio costiero in un intervento dal titolo 
"Limiti e prospettive del la penisola muggesana".
Ha fatto quindi seguito Pintervento del la dott.ssa Rita
300