No abstract

The French administration in Dalmatia (1805-1813) was short but is often praised by foresters as advanced in terms of woodland management because of their establishment of so-called sacred groves or sacri boschi. Based on archival sources and 19^th century maps, this research explores the establishment and demise of sacred groves and places them within the broader forest history of Dalmatia. It reveals that the literal translation of the term sacro bosco as sacred grove (sveti gaj) by the 19^th century foresters was not precise which caused misrepresentation and misunderstandings of what sacro bosco actually meant. The more appropriate translation would be forbidden groves (zabranjen gaj) as this also reflects the nature of these woodlands, which were in fact woodland sections where exploitation was prohibited. Establishment of forbidden groves was not a French invention since the practice was widely used before the French and during the Austrian Empire (1814-1918). In the second half of the 19^th century and with the change of official language, the Italian term sacro bosco was replaced with the Croatian term protected area (branjevina).

Anketnim istraživanjem na uzorku od 1078 ispitanika iz svih županija Hrvatske, odabranih metodom snježne grude, ispitani su stavovi hrvatske javnosti o položaju geografije u sustavu znanosti i njezinoj povezanosti s drugim znanostima, važnosti geografije kao školskog predmeta, stečenim znanjima i vještinama na nastavi geografije te razumijevanju geografskog područja istraživanja. Dobiveni su odgovori analizirani s obzirom na dob ispitanika i vrstu završene srednje škole. Rezultati su pokazali da većina ispitanika geografiju smješta u interdisciplinarne znanosti, no u najvećem broju slučajeva ipak je povezuje s prirodnim znanostima. Pokazalo se i da se geografija pozitivno poima kao školski predmet s važnim ishodima učenja. Osim općenito pozitivnih stavova o geografiji kao školskom predmetu, pozitivna je i percepcija geografije kao znanosti, mada se pokazalo da je razumijevanje samog područja istraživanja geografije manjkavo te se u velikoj mjeri temelji na sadržajima koji se uče na satovima geografije.Ključne riječi: percepcija geografije, geografija kao znanost, geografija kao školski predmet, metoda snježne grude The Perception of Geography as Science and as a School SubjectUsing survey research based on a sample of 1 078 examinees from every Croatian county, chosen by the snowball method, the attitudes of the Croatian public have been studied concerning the relation of geography to other scientific disciplines and major branches of science (physical, social, interdisciplinary), the importance of geography as a school subject, knowledge and skills acquired in geography classes and understanding of the geographical area of research. The given answers have been analyzed in regard to the age of examinees and their various finished high school education. The results have shown that most of the examinees place geography in the interdisciplinary sciences, although in most cases it was also considered to be related to the natural sciences. It was also shown that geography was regarded positively as a school subject with important learning outcomes. The perception of geography as a science was also proven positive, although the understanding of the areas of research in geography was found lacking and was mostly based on the material taught in geography classes.

Although the Mediterranean is considered to be one of the oldest regions in the world, its borders are still the subject of discussion and research. This paper aims to contribute to the definition of the Mediterranean by studying the perception of its spatial coverage in Croatia and its links to the physical and socio-cultural attributes of space. The research was conducted by using the cognitive map method on the sample of 200 participants. The result was a broad border zone separating the so-called "real" Mediterranean from areas which are not part of the Mediterranean. This zone is somewhat similar to a fuzzy set, representing a gradual transition between two ends belonging to a certain set. The research indicates that the congruence of perception of the borders of the Mediterranean is the largest along the Dinaric Alps (northwest – southeast), except in Istria, and the coastal spread along the entire Croatian littoral. The results also indicate that factors relating to the natural environment take precedence over socio-cultural factors in the perception of borders of the Mediterranean.

Ruralna depopulacija i razvoj nepoljoprivrednih aktivnosti su doveli do drastičnih promjena u krajobraznoj dinamici u priobalnoj Hrvatskoj koja se najviše očituje ubrzanim širenjem šumskih površina, između ostalog i onih alepskog bora. Ova vrsta nikad nije našla primjenu među lokalnim stanovništvom tako da ne postoji tržište za njenu sirovinu, ali joj se važnost ponajprije ogleda kroz brojne općekorisne funkcije koje najveći utjecaj imaju u imaju na turizam. Nasadi alepskog bora u šibenskom području su imali odlučujuću važnost za lociranje turističkih sadržaja i apartmanskih naselja te kao takvi imaju iznimnu ulogu u razvoju turizma ovog područja. Istraživanja su pokazala da alepski bor u nedostatku drugih vrsta visokog rasta na ovom području ima veliku važnost u estetskom i vizualnom doživljaju krajobraza te je bitan element u općoj turističkoj ponudi. Unatoč tome nekontrolirano širenje alepskog bora sve češće se negativno doživljava zbog povezanosti sa šumskim požarima koji su direktna prijetnja turizmu i drugim gospodarskim aktivnostima. Zbog toga je sustavno vrednovanje i gospodarenje sastojinama alepskog bora od iznimne nužnosti ne samo za zaštitu od požara već za iskorištavanje punog potencijala koji ova vrsta ima za turizam i rekreaciju.