Protected areas of Slovenia

Nature, its natural resources and people are inevitably intertwined. There is hardly a corner of the Earth where the human foot does not tread. As evolution has progressed, man has begun to encroach more and more on nature, to exploit its natural resources and to change the face of nature. The need to preserve our natural heritage has emerged.

Protected areas are concentrated natural areas of outstanding nature conservation value. Nature and its processes take precedence over human use, development, construction and infrastructure. All human activities, activities and interventions shall be compatible with the natural environment.

These are not areas where human access is prohibited. Any human activity - including tourism - in these areas should be strongly considered.

More than 13% of the surface of Slovenia is protected. For a map of protected areas, click HERE.

The larger and more widely protected areas are nature parks. These include national parks, regional parks and landscape parks.

Narrower protected areas are strict nature reserves and nature monuments.

In Slovenia, we have:

• 1 national park: the Triglav National Park   
• 3 regional parks: Kozjanski Park, Škocjanske jame Regional Park and Notranjska Regional Park
• 46 landscape parks
• 1 strict nature reserve
• 56 nature reserves
•  1164 natural monuments

In 2011, the Community of Parks was established in Slovenia in the common interest of nature conservation, ensuring a balance between effective protection of nature, cultural heritage and the various activities within protected areas.

In addition to areas protected by the state, sites can be protected by European legislation - for example  Natura 2000.

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Protected areas within a country are established by the government of the Republic of Slovenia or by the municipality.
2. The largest protected park is Triglav National Park, which covers an area of almost 84,000 hectares.  It is named after the highest mountain, Triglav.