The Public Institution "Priroda" is the county public institution of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County for the management of protected areas and Natura 2000 ecological network areas. Today, the Institution manages 27 protected areas in the categories of special reserves, significant landscapes, park forests, natural monuments and monuments of park architecture, and a total of 105 Natura 2000 ecological network areas, of which 2 are important conservation areas for birds (POP) and 103 are important conservation areas for wild species and habitat types (POVS).

The work and activities of the Institution are focused on the development and implementation of management plans, collecting data on species and habitats, conducting direct supervision, giving opinions on interventions in the area and when preparing planning documents, conducting monitoring and research, maintaining the visitor infrastructure of protected areas, implementing activities aimed at educating and raising public awareness, and managing visitor centers - the Visitor Center and Recovery Center for Griffon Vultures in Beli and the Visitor Center "Velika zvijera" in Stara Sušica. In addition, the Institution manages a recovery and feeding area for the strictly protected species of griffon vulture.

Since 2012, the Institution has been a member of the MedPAN association (Mediterranean Network of Marine Protected Areas Managers) with the aim of strengthening capacities in the protection and conservation of marine ecosystems, and in 2021 it joined the Croatian Network of Marine Protected Areas (HRMZP) platform in order to strengthen professional cooperation, networking and exchange of knowledge and experience of experts whose common interest is the preservation and sustainable use of the Adriatic Sea.

The seabed of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County is an incredible combination of geological diversity and biodiversity. The only formal marine protected area of ​​the county - the Special Botanical and Zoological Reserve of the Island of Prvić with more than 44 km² of water area and forty more Natura 2000 ecological network areas important for the conservation of target species and habitat types related to the sea, such as Posidonia meadows or reefs, flooded sea caves or sandy bottoms permanently covered by the sea. All these valuable and diverse underwater habitats, together with all marine organisms, form a mosaic of important marine ecosystems of the northern Adriatic.