Protected areas of Slovenia
Slovenia is a mosaic of unspoilt nature, rich biodiversity and unique landscapes. As much as 13% of Slovenia's territory is protected.
In Slovenia, we have:
- 1 national park,
- 3 regional parks,
- 46 landscape parks,
- 1 strict nature reserve,
- 56 nature reserves and
- 1164 natural monuments.
Did you know where our only strict nature reserve is?
It's Hrastova loza below Miliči in the Kolpa Landscape Park. Despite its different name, this lodge is in fact full of beech trees, which are much loved by grey herons, who can nest there in peace.
Did you know that Kozjanski Regional Park was established in the same year as Triglav National Park?
In the park, they celebrate the Kozjansko Apple Festival in the autumn.
The apple from the high-trunk orchard is a symbol of nature conservation and the continuation of ancestral traditions. In these orchards, endangered bird species such as the Eurasian Wryneck, European green woodpecker, grey-headed woodpecker, Eurasian scops owl, common redstart, little owl, red-backed shrike and many other animals live.
Our largest primeval forest is the Krokar Primeval Forest
In the forests of Kočevje, the Krokar Primeval Forest is a real kingdom of beech trees, covering an area of just over 75 hectares. In 2017, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. The Krokar Forest Trail, which opened in 2021, takes you to the edge of the forest and gives you a peek inside.
Foto: Marjan Artnak
Škocjan Caves Regional Park
Inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1986 (UNESCO) and recognised as the world's first underground wetland in 1999. Since 2004 it has also been called the Karst Biosphere Reserve. All this means that it is an exceptional site on a global scale.
The youngest regional park is the Notranjska Regional Park, which is best known for the intermittent Lake Cerknica. It was established by the Municipality of Cerknica in 2002.
Which is the oldest landscape park?
Due to its natural beauty, cultural landscape, and preserved ethnological heritage, the Topla Valley in Koroška, along with the Peca Ridge and surrounding slopes, has been protected as a landscape park since 1966..
Homesteads have shaped the hamlets called 'celki.' The meadows at the bottom of the valley are home to many species of butterflies and cuckoo flowers, while the forests under Peca are inhabited by the capercaillie.
Zelenci Nature Reserve
It is located at the northern border of the Triglav National Park, not far from Kranjska Gora. There used to be a large lake there after the last ice age, but now the Sava Dolinka flows from Zelenci. Clean water flows through the porous lake chalk in the form of volcanoes at the bottom, and it is 6°C throughout the year.
The Gogal lime tree in Zgornja Radovna is a natural monument of national importance.
500 years old, 25 m high and more than 6 m in circumference, it reigns at the Gogal homestead. Who knows what it has seen. Its branches and trunk host a few friends: several spruces, a raspberry tree, a white humulus and a three-awned popcorn tree. And millions of bees have visited its flowers.
You can read more about the protected areas HERE.