The Department of Wildlife and Nature Protection was established in 1999 at Karlovac University of Applied Sciences. After the creation of the curriculum and obtained authorization for the establishment and performance of the part-time undergraduate professional study ''Wildlife and Nature Protection'' (Class 602 – 1/ 99 – 7/18, Registration Number 533 – 08 – 99 – 05) the first generation of students enrolled in the academic year 2000/2001.
After adjusting the curriculum with the Bologna process, the study programme was given authorization for its work continuation in June 2005 (Class: 602-04/05-16/471, Registration Number: 533-07-05-2). After the process of reaccreditation, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport, issued an authorization for the continuation of the performance of the study programme (Class: UP/I-602-04/09-13/00047, Registration Number: 533-07-09-0002).
The holder of the study programme is the Department of Wildlife and Nature Protection at the Karlovac University of Applied Sciences.
The study lasts for 3 years.
After the completition of the study, the student obtains 180 ECTS credits.
The study is conducted at Karlovac University of Applied Sciences, Trg J.J. Stossmayera 9, Karlovac.
After the completition of the study, students receive the qualification of the bachelor engineer of Wildlife and Nature protection (abbr. bacc.ing.agr.) (NN 87/2009).
Reasons why we decided to establish the professional study of Wildlife and Nature Protection:
1. The benefit of Croatia, in comparison to the majority of European countries, is a well sustained natural heritage, respectively well preserved natural resources. One of the ways of permanent and sustainable economic exploitation of these natural resources is surely hunting that is organized and based on the newest awareness of the hunting science and profession.
2. Hunting accommodated science, profession and activities that deal with breeding, protection and exploitation of game, and also protection of all plants and animal species that live in that habitat, as well as protection and advancement of that habitat. Hunting is an interdisciplinary science and profession in which knowledge from various fields from biology (zoology, botanic, phytocoenology, ecology, zooecology, genetics, etc.), forestry, veterinary, agriculture, law, responsible tourism, etc. is combined. Hunting, obviously, includes a great deal of activities that deal directly or indirectly with nature protection. According to the Law on Hunting, hunting has ''economic, touristic and recreative function and the function of protection and preservation of biological and ecological equilibrium of natural habitats, wildlife and wild fauna and flora''.
3. The protection of nature also includes interdisciplinary science and profession that deals with the system of nature protection and overall nature protection and its forms (establishment, management, protection and control of protected parts of nature). Croatia has 19 public organizations that manage 8 national parts and 11 parks of nature as well as others protected areas of public importance and 21 public organizations on county level, apropos 6 public organizations on the local level that manage protected areas of nature of state and local importance.
4. In order for organization and implementation of the mentioned activities on appropriate level and appropriate ways to occur, cadres who will be able to conduct effectively professional tasks and activities associated with nature and wildlife protection and environment protection in general, are needed. It is precisely these practical skills that the Department of Wildlife and Nature Protection offers students and enables them for professional work in the area of Nature and wildlife protection.
Necessary criteria for the applications to the study
All who finished high school in the duration of at least four years can apply to the professional studies, on one of the two ways:
- based on the results of their state exams
- based on the classification procedure
Based on the results of the state exams, all applicants will be able to enroll directly if they passed their main subjects of the state exam
- Croatian language (elementary or advanced level with the conversion coefficient)
- Math (elementary or advanced level with the conversion coefficient)
- Foreign language (elementary or advanced level with the conversion coefficient)
Applications for the enrollment into the first year of the professional study via state exams are submitted through the National information system of application on higher education (NISpVU) available at www.postani-student.hr .
The classification procedure for applicants that did not take state exams is based on the system of evaluation of their success in high school. The general success, grades on math, Croatian and foreign language through all years is evaluated. There is no special entrance exam. The committee for the enrollment into the study will establish a successfulness list which will be published on the internet page www.vuka.hr. The list of applicants that satisfy the criteria for enrolment will be published on the notice board of Karlovac University of Applied Sciences and on the Internet page www.vuka.hr .
All applicants that passed the classification scale, based on the level of successfulness, obtain the right to enroll, until the enrolment quotas are fulfilled.
Further education:
After completition of the study Wildlife and Nature Protection, students can continue their study on specialist programmes offered by Karlovac University of Applied Sciences or any other higher education institution in the Republic of Croatia, as well as graduate courses on University level such as Hunting and Beekeeping on the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Osijek or the study of Hunting and Fishing on the Faculty of Agronomy at the University of Zagreb.
Comparison with programs of foreign higher education institutions:
The competencies of experts that finish the professional study of Wildlife and Nature protections are comparative to experts that study on similar programs on higher educations in Europe and the world. When defining the program and competencies, we used the experiences and study programs of the following European higher educations which use, in their programs, sustainable exploitation and protection of natural resources:
- very similar study programs are found in Hungary, for instance on the Forestry University at the University of Western Hungary in Sopron and at the University of Agricultural and Environmental sciences on the University Szent Istvan in Godol (they conduct the study of Wildlife and Nature Protection on undergraduate and graduate level)
- at the University of natural sciences in Vienna (BOKU) a graduate study of ecology and game is conducted (eng. Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management).
- higher agricultural school Lleida in Spain conducts a module of management of protected parts of nature and the Higher professional school in Postojna the study of Forestry and Hunting.
- the Faculty of Forestry, geo and hydro sciences is Dresden in German has a similar program, the Ecology of Game and Hunting, which is conducted by the Department of Ecology, Game and Hunting science
- the Faculty of Social Sciences and Natural Resources on the University of Nord-Rondelag in Norway conducts the Study of Nature and Management of protected areas
- University of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Novi Sad conducts the graduate study of Hunting tourism
- University of applied sciences Van Hall Larenstein in the Netherlands started conducting the undergraduate study of management of wildlife (''Wildlife Management'')
Apart from the mentioned European higher education institutions there is a long tradition of conducting such study programmes ('Wildlife Management') on American (for example, State University Montana) and African universities (for instance University of Pretoria in South Africa).
The International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation gave their support to the establishment and performance of the professional study of Wildlife and Nature protection which numbers 188 national associations of hunters from all over the world.
