Development and the environment : a case study of Hvar Island, Yugoslavia

Abstract

Increasing interest throughout the Mediterranean Basin in links between development planning and the environment are part of a much wider concern about the global impact of economic and social decisions on the future of our planet. There is a growing awareness of the need for greater attention to be paid to the natural environment within the context of development planning. Whilst the emphasis is on sustainable development, there has to be more appreciation of the fragile relationship between continued socio-economic growth and degradation of the natural environment. This has particular practical implications for the Mediterranean Basin, with its almost enclosed sea, where environmental degradation through air and water pollution provides serious debate for closer control of human activity within the region. Like the Black Sea, the Adriatic contains one of the 'water gates' into the eastern basin of the Mediterranean.1 Although much remains to be done to extend our knowledge of the Adriatic world, the main outlines of its structural, physical and human history are clearly known. In recent years it has become possible to prepare regional syntheses of its constituent parts, enabling the Blue Plan, launched in 1979, to move toward fulfilling its most important function, i.e. providing realistic scenarios for sustainable, integrated social and economic development of the whole Mediterranean Basin.