Monitoring and Observation System for the Continuous Assessment of the State of the Adriatic Sea (JADMON) 2021-2026. – Work Area 1 RC-MORE

Pursuant to the Decree on the Preparation and Implementation of Documents of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive – MSFD (Official Gazette 112/14, 39/17 and 112/18) (hereinafter: the Decree) and the Decision on the Adoption of the Action Program for the Strategy for the Management of the Marine Environment and Coastal Area: The Monitoring and Observation System for the Permanent Assessment of the State of the Adriatic Sea (2021 – 2026) (Official Gazette 28/2021) (hereinafter: the Decision) The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development (MINGOR) is the coordinator for the implementation of the Monitoring and Observation System for the Permanent Assessment of the State of the Adriatic Sea (hereinafter: the Monitoring System).

According to art. 17 of the Regulation, the monitoring and observation system was created in accordance with the initial assessment of the state of the marine environment and the established objective, and is harmonized within the marine subregion and the marine region, and is based on the relevant provisions of the special regulations of the Republic of Croatia and the European Union, including international agreements on the protection of environmental elements and the protection of pollution. The monitoring and surveillance system, with a view to linkage and consistency with other monitoring programs in the subregion, strives to ensure consistency of monitoring methods in the marine subregion and the region in cooperation with other countries to facilitate comparability of monitoring results and to take into account important transboundary impacts and transboundary characteristics.

The Monitoring and Observation System for the Continuous Assessment of the State of the Adriatic Sea includes the Integral System for Monitoring and Assessment of the State of the Mediterranean Sea and Coast (IMAP IG.22/7 ), which was developed and adopted as part of the work of the United Nations Environment Program Mediterranean Action Plan (UNEP/MAP ).

Prescribed specifications and standardized methods for monitoring and assessment of the state of the marine subregions and regions of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the EU) and under the Barcelona Convention (hereinafter referred to as the BC) form the basis for amendments to the documents adopted under the Regulation, including documents related to the monitoring system. Based on the knowledge gained through the monitoring and observation of the parameters (elements of the criteria) in the previous reporting period in relation to the descriptors for which it was possible, the document Updated Monitoring and Observation System for the Permanent Assessment of the Status of the Adriatic Sea (2021 – 2026) was prepared in 2020. in order to comply with the new Directive (EU) 2017/845 and the new Commission Decision (EU) 2017/848 establishing criteria and methodological standards for good environmental status (GSO) of marine waters and specifying and standardizing methods for monitoring and assessing the ecological status of the marine environment.

It should be noted that from 2021, the monitoring program will be implemented in accordance with the new decision Updated Monitoring and Observation System for the Permanent Assessment of the State of the Adriatic Sea in the six-year cycle 2021-2026.

A list of important Croatian legislation and EU and BC regulations can be found in Chapter 12, and the abbreviations used in Chapter 13.

In order to fulfill the obligations under Directive 2008/56/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Framework for Community Action in the field of Marine Environmental Policy (SL.L.164, 18.6.2008) and the Integral System for Monitoring and Assessment of the Status of the Mediterranean Sea and Coasts (IMAP IG.22/7), the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter referred to as the Republic of Croatia) is required to implement a monitoring program for the continuous assessment of the environmental status of the marine waters under its jurisdiction.
The aim of the above environmental policy measures is to achieve sustainable use of European seas and more effective protection of the marine environment, as well as protection of resources on which economic and social activities related to the sea depend, by 2022.

Directive 2008/56/ EC defines 11 thematic descriptors for assessing the state of the marine environment in EU countries:

As part of the work of the Barcelona Convention ( UNEP-MAP ) and the related seven protocols to protect the Mediterranean Sea from pollution, which is semi-enclosed and ecologically sensitive, it was decided to apply the Ecosystem Approach to the Management of Human Activities (EcAp), which takes into account physical, chemical and biological parameters to maintain the good status of the marine environment. Therefore, as part of the implementation of the EcAp, an integral program for monitoring the status of the Mediterranean Sea and the coast was defined, in which 11 environmental objectives (E01-EO11) are established, compatible with the descriptors (D1-D11) defined in the MSFD.

In accordance with the recommendations of the European Commission (EC), the monitoring system is considered from a regional perspective in terms of spatial coverage and temporal frequency of sampling, as well as the choice of parameters to assess the situation. Since transboundary marine ecosystems are involved, monitoring and research, and especially the management of these ecosystems, must not be incomplete, because in this case the positive effect of any action will be absent. For the successful implementation of the ODMS and the introduction of the monitoring system, the systematics and frequency of sampling as well as sufficient human and financial resources are important. In the implementation of the monitoring system, all predicted parameters and areas should be included in order to achieve a comprehensive approach in the implementation of the monitoring system in the Adriatic Sea under the MSFD, i.e. in the Adriatic Sea under the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia, and thus high-quality and usable results, i.e. an assessment of the situation. The achievement of the same directly depends on the funds that MINGOR sets for the marine environment monitoring system in the budget for each year in advance.