Eco Hvar - home for ecology on Hvar Island in Croatia

Welcome to the Eco-Hvar website

Welcome to the Eco-Hvar website!

Hvar Island on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia is one of the most beautiful places in the world. It has the makings of a paradise on earth. Islanders have long boasted of the clean air and sea, the pristine natural environment and the healthy lifestyle based on a good diet and outdoor living.

*Clear sea in Hvar harbour, July 2014. Photo: Vivian Grisogono*

Tourism is the island’s main economic activity. Hvar Town established the first professional tourist organization in Europe when the Hvar Health Society (Higijeničko društvo Hvar) was founded way back in 1868 under the leadership of Bishop Juraj Duboković. The Society’s aim was to attract guests to Hvar Town who could benefit from the climate, especially the mild winter, and the clean air. These ‘health tourists’ were well looked after by all accounts, with good food and healthy activities. They provided the foundation for Hvar’s enduring successful tourist industry.

The style of tourism has changed over the years. The basis of Hvar Island’s attractions remains the same. Many people still come to visit or stay here in order to enjoy the clean air, sea and countryside. No-one is disappointed in the natural beauty of the place. There are also other attractions, including the island's rich and colourful history and cultural heritage, not to mention the good food and high quality wines.

However, the island is not perfect. Certain aspects could and should be changed. There is a surprisingly high incidence of smoking- and diet-related illnesses on the island, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and lung problems. The doctors also have to deal with thyroid and hormonal disturbances, especially in young girls, and cancers in all age groups. The indications are that islanders need a better understanding of healthy lifestyle habits, also a clearer knowledge of the downside of using chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

For animal-lovers, the treatment of animals also gives cause for concern. There is no animal rescue facility on the island, and refuges for dogs and cats are urgently needed so proper care can be provided for homeless animals.

The registered not-for-profit charity Eco Hvar was founded in 2013 to help improve conditions for people, animals and the environment. You can read details of the charity's aims in each category on these links: Environment, Health, Animals. The overall ideal aim is to create a true earthly paradise on the exquisite Island of Hvar.

Eco Hvar is pleased to co-operate with like-minded organizations, and is a member of PAN Europe, and LAG Škoji, and a supporter of Zemljane staze - Earth Trek (Facebook page), Održivi otok ('Sustainable Island') (Facebook page), Dignitea (Facebook page) and Pokret otoka ('Island Movement')..

For comprehensive research and strategies for environmental protection, we follow and strongly recommend The Nature-based Solutions Initiative, which operates from the UK University of Oxford Departments of Biology and Geography.

The Eco-Hvar website contains original articles, information, references and links in keeping with the aims of Eco Hvar. All the material on the website is copyright, including the illustrations and photographs, and may not be reproduced or published in any form except with the copyright holders' written permission. However, you are welcome to copy or print out any of the articles for personal use only. For day-by-day topics of interest in keeping with Eco Hvar's aims, you can follow us on Facebook.

Media

For the Good of All!

Better Ways

Nature Watch

Highlights

About Animals

Forum items

Notices

Poisons Beware!

Donations

Donations can be made in euros, pounds sterling, US and Australian dollars and Swiss francs. All donations, however small, are very welcome. We acknowledge donations by email if we have the donor's address. Please let us know if you require a formal paper receipt.

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEW BANK DETAILS:

ECO HVAR BANK DETAILS

OTP banka d.d. Split, Domovinskog rata 61, 21000 Split;

Poslovnica Jelsa, 21465 Jelsa.

IBAN HR7024070001100727245; BIC OTPVHR2X
Account name: ECO HVAR

Account address: Pitve 93, 21465 Jelsa, Croatia

If the payment slip has a box for 'further details' or 'further information' you should enter the Charity's OIB: 14009858487, and state 'donation' or 'donacija'.

About The Site

The site contains articles and information on topics related to health, the environment and animal welfare.

While the focus is on Hvar Island in Dalmatia, much of the information is relevant to the rest of Croatia, and some to Europe, the United States and the rest of the world.

The main language of the site is English, but articles in Croatian are being added as quickly as possible. Some of the Croatian articles are translations, some original. Book reviews are in the language of the publication being reviewed.

To see all the articles archived in each category, click on the category name which is given below the title of each article (Environment, Highlights, Notices etc).

For further relevant news items and bits of interesting information, please refer to our Facebook page.

Thanks

We are very grateful to Željka Horvat Kozulić for kindly and expertly designing the ECO HVAR logo, also to Jelena Bunčuga, Petra Mimica, Bartul Mimica, Ivana Župan, Dinka Barbić and Josip Vlainić for their generous help in translating articles into Croatian.

Special thanks are also owed to Mihael Magdić of Orion Informatika i Trgovina, Varaždin, for his excellent and patient efforts in designing the website.

Eco Environment News feeds

Fears that UK military bases may be leaking toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into drinking water

Bases in Norfolk, Devon and Hampshire face MoD investigation over possible leaching of dangerous PFAS into environment
Three UK military bases have been marked for investigation over fears they may be leaking toxic “forever chemicals” into drinking water sources and important environmental sites.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will investigate RAF Marham in Norfolk, RM Chivenor in Devon and AAC Middle Wallop in Hampshire after concerns they may be leaching toxic PFAS chemicals into their surroundings. The sites were identified using a new PFAS risk screening tool developed by the Environment Agency (EA) designed to locate and prioritise pollution threats.
Continue reading...
Climatologist Friederike Otto: ‘The more unequal the society is, the more severe the climate disaster’

The German scientist on her new book arguing that inequality, wealth and sexism are making the climate crisis worse – and what we need to do about it
Friederike Otto is a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London. She is also the co-founder of the World Weather Attribution initiative, which seeks to determine the influence of global warming on intensity and likelihood of an extreme weather event. The project also examines how factors such as ill-suited architecture and poverty exacerbate heatwaves, hurricanes, floods and wildfires. This is the theme of her second book, Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequality to Combat Climate Change.
The thesis of your book is that the climatecrisis isa symptom ofglobalinequality and injustice. That will be quite topsy-turvy to some people, who think globalheating is caused by the amount of carbon that we are putting into the atmosphere.
Yes, of course, if you just stick to the physics, then the warming is caused by the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, but the amount of carbon in the atmosphere is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. And it is also the case that those who benefit from the burning of fossil fuels are the few already wealthy people who have stakes in or own the companies themselves. The vast majority of people do not benefit. The American dream is social mobility, not burning fossil fuels.
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UK national parks warn of ‘catastrophic’ risk from wildfires this Easter

Weeks of fires amid warm and dry spell have decimated ecosystems and threatened endangered species, say experts
- Wildfires expose ‘postcode lottery’ of firefighting resources
Britain’s national parks have warned of a “catastrophic” risk from wildfires this Easter after one of the driest early spring seasons on record.
Park rangers from the South Downs to the Highlands said the prolonged warm weather and breezy conditions had left large areas extremely dry despite recent rain.
Continue reading...
Growers criticise UK supermarkets for heavy Easter discounts on vegetables

Fears produce could be permanently devalued by price war, as it ‘creates unrealistic expectations about costs’
Supermarkets have been criticised for using vegetables as the latest weapon in their burgeoning price war, charging as little as 8p for a 2kg bag of potatoes in an attempt to lure shoppers over Easter.
Growers said they feared the massive discounts, which are also deployed at Christmas, could permanently devalue their produce.
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‘It will be beautiful to see our kids grow up with this’: how communities around the world are planting trees

City residents are working out how to fill their streets with trees as evidence grows of their benefits
“I wanted to do something that would benefit as many people from the community as possible,” says Chloe Straw, pointing at a small but promising sapling visible through the window of her local cafe.
In 2023, Chloe began chatting to her neighbours in Haringey, north London, about trees. “I thought it’d be really nice to raise some money for trees on the main road. Everyone uses West Green Road, regardless of whether you have a lot of money or not, regardless of your background.”
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Rare footage captured of interspecies infanticide by dolphins off Welsh coast

Dolphin-watching tour witnesses four adult bottlenose dolphins kill a common dolphin calf in Cardigan Bay
They had been hoping for a nice day out on the bay. Instead, dolphin-watching tourists in Wales were confronted with the shocking and grisly sight of four adult bottlenose dolphins pursuing and killing a common dolphin calf.
The trip, in Cardigan Bay, was operated by Dolphin Spotting Boat Trips and the Sea Watch Foundation (SWF), a charity that monitors the dolphins in the bay to inform and advise on their conservation status and protection.
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Meet the seed collector restoring California’s landscapes - one tiny plant at a time

Native seed demand far outpaces supply for the state’s ambitious conservation plan. This group combs the landscape to address the deficit
Deep in California’s agricultural heartland, Haleigh Holgate marched through the expansive wildflower-dotted plains of the San Luis national wildlife refuge complex in search of something precious.
She surveyed the native grasses and flowering plants that painted the Central valley landscape in almost blinding swaths of yellow. Her objective on that sweltering spring day was to gather materials pivotal to California’s ambitious environmental agenda – seeds.
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Weather tracker: sandstorm turns Iraqi skies orange and empties the streets

Thousands go to hospital with respiratory problems after massive dust cloud blows in from Saudi Arabia
Iraq was hit by its most severe sandstorm of 2025 this week, turning skies from blue to an orange haze. Visibility dropped to less than half a mile, causing travel disruptions, with two major airports halting flights, and streets in Basra, the largest city in southern Iraq, deserted. Respiratory problems sent thousands to hospital. The storm also affected Kuwait, where wind gusts exceeded 50mph, and visibility in some areas was diminished to zero.
This massive dust cloud originated in Saudi Arabia before being blown into Iraq. While dust storms are common in Iraq, the climate crisis is expected to intensify them across the region in the future, fuelled by desertification in Saudi Arabia and Syria.
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Map reveals residential wood-burning hotspots in England and Wales

Researchers analyse energy performance certificate data to identify areas with potentially high particle pollution
Burning wood at home adds more particle pollution to the UK’s air than the exhausts of all of the vehicles on its roads, but there is very little information on where this burning takes place and who is most affected.
To address this knowledge gap, researchers have produced the first high-resolution map of wood burning in England and Wales.
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Kicking up a stink: row over sewage pollution blighting Cape Town’s beaches

Campaigners say authorities should be doing more to clean up waters around city of nearly 5 million people

On a clear summer’s day in Cape Town, the Milnerton Lagoon was serene, reflecting the bright blue sky and Table Mountain. But there was an unmistakable stench, and up close, the water was murky.
A few hundred metres away, adults and children played in the water as it flowed into Table Bay. On the boardwalk, a sign read: “Polluted water: for health reasons, swimming and recreational activities are at your own risk.”
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Eco Health News feeds

Plan for GPs to keep millions out of hospital

GPs will work more closely with specialists to support patients closer to home, the government says.
Disposable vape use falling in UK ahead of ban

The number of people vaping in the UK has stalled, while disposable vape usage has fallen, a study suggests.
WHO agrees legally binding pandemic treaty

The agreement is designed to ensure more cooperation between nations in the event of another pandemic.
Doctors in two end-of-life cases can be named

Those involved in caring for Isaiah Haastrup and Zainab Abbasi can be named, the Supreme Court rules.
North Scotland among highest rates of Huntington's

The statistics are five times higher than the world figure, a University of Aberdeen study says.
Adult ADHD diagnosis 'tough but totally made sense'

Jennifer Cousins says it is "unfair" that there are no commissioned services for ADHD in Northern Ireland.
Brazilian butt lift ads banned by UK regulator

The ads used time-limited deals to "irresponsibly pressurise" customers into booking, says the Advertising Standards Authority.
Why men are so unhealthy - and what can be done

Men are more likely to die prematurely than women - and worse at seeking care when they need it.
What goes on inside toddlers' brains?

A unique study is tracking the development of hundreds of babies whose parents have also been studied since birth.
'My long Covid turned out to be terminal cancer'

Olivia Knowles noticed something "wasn't quite correct" while competing in an ironman competition.

Eco Nature News feeds

Earth Month: Shaping an economy built on nature

For much of modern history, humanity’s growth has come at the expense of nature. At Conservation International, we’re flipping the economic equation that renders nature worth more dead than alive.
Earth Month: How we’re keeping the ocean healthy

The ocean has long provided humanity with food, livelihoods and a stable climate. Yet it is increasingly hot, acidic and polluted. In honor of Earth Month, here are a few success stories from Conservation International.
Earth Month: Helping nature help the climate

For years, Conservation International was one of few voices clamoring for action on one crucial issue: To prevent the worst of climate change, we must protect nature. Our efforts have paid off.
In Hawai‘i, new effort to bring invasive species to heel

If you can’t beat ’em, wear ’em? Conservation International, designers turn fish into fashion.
Ahead of pandemic talks, this doctor has nature on his mind

Human health, animal health and environmental health are interconnected. A new article published in the Lancet argues for an approach to pandemic threats that embraces this idea.
Amid a vanishing savanna, new corridor a ‘big win’ for wildlife

Conservation International is helping recover a savanna habitat nearly twice the size of Manhattan.
Can tree farms save a forest? Brazil is about to find out

In Brazil's s Mato Grosso do Sul, native species are reclaiming thousands of acres once heavily grazed by cattle. A bold initiative aims to protect and restore nature to an area twice the size of Manhattan — and find new ways to pay for it.
What on Earth is ‘HFLD’? (Hint: It’s about forests)

From “blue carbon” to “ecosystem services,” environmental jargon is everywhere. Conservation International looks to make sense of it in an occasional explainer series. In this installment, we explore the role “HFLDs,” play in storing climate-warming carbon.
New report: Without nature, there is no path to a climate-safe future

A first-of-its-kind report lays out how humanity must change its relationship with nature to avert a climate crisis.
Thomas Lovejoy, ‘godfather of biodiversity,’ dies at 80

The conservation movement has lost one of its giants. Renowned ecologist Thomas Lovejoy died Dec. 25 at the age of 80, National Geographic reported.

ECO HVAR: AIMS AND ACTIVITIES OF THE CHARITY

Environment

Health

Animals