Nature Park Katič stretches across 47 kilometres of Montenegro’s Adriatic coast, protecting seagrass meadows, coral communities, underwater caves, and a wide variety of marine life. These ecosystems also underpin the tourism economy built around the coast. But protection on paper does not always translate into protection in practice. Many of the people swimming, snorkelling, boating, or jet skiing in the area are unclear about where the protected area begins, which rules apply, or why the site matters. Last summer, Blue4All set out to examine that gap. Through fieldwork in and around Katič, project partners explored how the protected area is understood, experienced, and used.
How people experience Katič
To understand what protection means in practice, Blue4All partners from the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro, WWF Adria, and researchers from Wageningen University worked together to speak with people who experience Katič every day.
Tourists, hotel managers, tourism providers, and jet ski users in the coastal towns of Petrovac and Budva shared their views of the protected area, what they knew about it, and how they used the coast. Surveys and interviews were combined with on-site observations to capture both perceptions and behaviour.
Boat visits into the protected area and conversations with park rangers added another perspective, helping connect what people said on shore with what was happening across the marine park itself.
Our discoveries
For many visitors, Katič barely registers as a protected area. Parts of the park are not visible from shore, and awareness among both tourists and tourism providers was consistently low.
Even those who had heard of Katič being a protected area were often unsure where the different zones began and ended, why it mattered ecologically, or which rules applied. By contrast, local stakeholders with long-standing ties to the area, particularly established hotels, showed a much stronger understanding of the park and its protections.
That gap in awareness matters on the water. During boat visits, park rangers explained that illegal fishing and harvesting still take place within the protected area despite existing protections. Ecological and fisheries inspectors, working with the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro, have responded with enforcement measures and clearer on-site information, including no-anchoring signage.
Finally, information about the protected status of Katič and its regulations is not consistently shared by tourism providers, including hotels and recreational operators. This gap is especially visible in jet ski use, where speed limits are often exceeded, and environmental impacts are rarely discussed.
Communication shapes behaviour
The research also pointed to a practical opportunity: tourism providers can shape behaviour before visitors ever enter the water. Hotels, rental companies, and recreational operators are often the first point of contact for visitors, yet information about Katič’s protected status and regulations is not always part of the booking or rental process. For activities such as jet skiing, for example, a short explanation of speed limits, sensitive areas, and environmental impacts can go a long way.
Recommendations for the Future
Future efforts should focus on making Katič’s protected status harder to ignore. Priorities suggested by Blue4all researchers include clearer information for visitors, stronger involvement of local tourism providers, better signage for international audiences, and tools such as GPS-based monitoring to support compliance on the water. The proposed Katič Marine Protected Area Visitor Centre in Petrovac could bring these efforts together as a hub for education, engagement, and more sustainable tourism.
A Shared Opportunity
Katič shows that designation is only the beginning. For protection to work in practice, it needs people to understand its value and see a role for themselves in safeguarding it.
The fieldwork found a strong basis to build on: concern for the marine environment, openness to better ways of balancing tourism and conservation, and interest from local stakeholders in becoming more involved. The next step is turning that willingness into action, from stronger local involvement to new tools and initiatives that make protection part of everyday life around the park.
To support this work, Blue4All developed two posters summarising the PEAR tool testing process and the key tourism impacts identified in Katič.