ANNALES • Ser. hist. nat. • 13 • 2003 • 2
DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN  DRUŠTEV/ATTIVITA DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE NOSTRE SOCIETÀ/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 297-307
DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN DRUŠTEV 
ATTIVITÀ DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE 
NOSTRE SOCIETÀ 
ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS 
AND ASSOCIATIONS
FIRST STEPS IN ESTABLISHING THE SLOVENIAN 
NATIONAL BIOPLATFORM
On January 15lh and 16lh 2003, an international ex­
change of project proposals was taking place in the Biol­
ogy Centre, Ljubljana within the framework of the re­
gional initiative called TriCo, which is to aid the collabo­
ration in research and development within the Alps- 
Adria Region. The exchange - the 7th so far and carrying 
the title "Sustainable spatial planning and vulnerable 
ecosystems" - was much more comprehensive than the 
previous meetings, for parallel to the project presenta­
tion, a scientific conference within the framework of the 
5th basic programme of the EU "Bioplatform" project was 
taking place. At the scientific conference, research 
groups from further 14 European countries were taking 
part, in addition to the researchers and experts from the 
six countries of the Alps-Adria region. More than 180 re­
searchers from 20 countries also participated, simultane­
ously with the exchange of project proposals on the 
subject of "Sustainable spatial planning and vulnerable 
ecosystems", in the preparations of scientific background 
in the establishment of Slovenian national platform for 
the research in the sphere of biodiversity, which eventu­
ally became a member of the EU network. The European 
network of national bioplatforms is functioning within 
the forum called EPBRS ("European Platform for Biodiver­
sity Research Strategy"), which serves as a bridge be­
tween the European policy making and directives in the 
sphere of sustainable development as well as between 
the research sphere and impacts of the sustainable eco­
nomic development on biodiversity in Europe. Integra­
tion of experts from the EU countries in this sphere ac­
tively aids the candidate countries also in the surmount­
ing of difficulties in the implementation of European di­
rectives and in the preparation of regionally specific 
contents in the sustainable development and its impact 
on the environment.
Within the framework of the above mentioned inter­
national exchange, the founding meeting of the Slove­
nian national platform for the research in the sphere of 
biodiversity also took part, i.e. of the forum for the 
stipulation and direction of development strategy and 
identification of priority research in the sphere of biodi­
versity in Slovenia, at which we, the participants, 
founded the Slovenian National Bioplatform (SNB), 
which is to bring together various experts from the 
spheres of biology, spatial planning, sustainable devel­
opment, biodiversity and representative of the ministries
contributing towards the national policy making in the 
field of development and research.
The planners of the European Platform for Biodiver­
sity Research Strategy (EPBRS) have come out with 4 
concrete objectives, towards which national bioplat­
forms are to contribute as well:
1. Monitoring of the development of the European 
bioplatform through inclusion of platforms from all 32 
countries (within the RTD programme), and integration 
of national platforms with other European and interna­
tional organisations with the intention to promote the 
common European area of biodiversity research;
2. Organisation of 5 EPBRS meetings;
3. Organisation of electronic conferences before the 
meetings, at which a wide range of users would discuss 
the selected topics, and
4. Reports on findings, discoveries and other EPBRS 
results.
The main objectives of the Slovenian National Bio­
platform are activities dealing with the preparation of 
the national strategy for biodiversity research, prepara­
tion of interdisciplinary research programmes and defi­
nition of priority tasks, integration with other national 
bioplatforms and the European platform, identification 
of the good and the bad aspects of development, inclu­
sion of Slovenian research into international pro­
grammes, and a series of other activities associated with 
it. The fact is that Slovenia is faced, similar as other 
Central and Eastern European countries, with some ma­
jor problems, such as shortage of taxonomy specialists, 
lack of strategy of this kind, modest financial support to 
the classical research in the sphere of biodiversity, lack 
of communication between scientific institutions and 
professional non-government organisations dealing with 
similar subjects, and concordance between competent 
ministries regarding the developmental-spatial and sec­
torial activities, which have a potential impact on biodi­
versity as well as on the outer appearance of cultural 
and natural landscape in Slovenia. In Europe, Slovenia 
is known as its "hot spot" with extremely high biodiver­
sity, due to which it is highly important that the greatest 
possible attention is dedicates to this complexity.
Last but not least, the strategy of economic growth in 
Slovenia and its tourist development is based on the 
conservation of natural wealth and biodiversity, which is 
due to the country's position at the junction of very di­
verse climatic-geological belts in fact unique in Europe. 
Exceptionally important for the survival and further de­
velopment of SNB is also the support given by the Min­
istry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy and 
the goodwill of Minister Janez Kopac, who in his ad­
dress given during the opening of the international ex­
change in the Biology Centre in Ljubljana on the subject 
of sustainable spatial management and vulnerable eco­
systems gave his full support to the SNB and its suc­
cessful functioning.
297
ANNALES • Ser. hist. nat. ■ 13 • 2003 • 2
DELO NASIH ZAVODOV IN DRUSTEV/ATTIVITÀ DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE NOSTRE SOCIETÀ/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 297-307
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
298