In 2022 Government of Montenegro decided to declare the area of the Nature Park Stari Ulcinj. The total area of the Stari Ulcinj Nature Park is 9,291,601 m². The area of the Stari Ulcinj Nature Park represents an integrated coastal and marine protected area that extends from the southern part of Karastanov Cape in the north to the northern end of Valdanos Beach in the south.
In the marine part, there are habitats and species of high representativity, including the biocenoses of the seagrass meadows (Posidonia oceanica), especially in Kruče Bay, around the Stari Ulcinj island, and further north. Additionally, notable are the coraligenous biocenoses, particularly the infralittoral enclaves in parts of crevices and cavities where a greater amount of light is lacking. Some of the prominent organisms include the nodal seagrass (Cymodocea nodosa), green algae Dasycladus vermicularis, brown algae Cystoseira compressa, large colonies of the endemic stone coral Cladocora caespitosa on the southeastern part of Kruče Bay at a depth of 10 meters, and associations of green filamentous algae Flabellia petiolata and Peyssonnelia squamaria at several smaller locations.
