Slovenia’s Protected Areas

Abstract

The conservation of the natural environment and its values in Slovenia goes back to the last decade of the nineteenth century, and the beginnings of the first and only national park go back to 1924. The 1999 Nature Conservation Act established a national framework for protecting 13% of Slovenia’s territory. Slovenia is among the European countries with best-preserved natural conditions and the greatest biological and landscape diversity. This is reflected by the size of Slovenian territory that is protected: more than 52% of the country lies in ecologically important areas and approximately 37% within Natura 2000 sites. Various examples are used to present the management of national assets. Slovenia has 1 national park (IUCN category II/V; the example presented is Triglav National Park), 3 regional parks (IUCN category V/II; the example presented is Kozje Regional Park), 44 landscape parks (IUCN category V; Kolpa Landscape Park is presented), 1 strict nature reserve (IUCN category I; the Hrastova loza Strict Nature Reserve is presented), 56 nature reserves (IUCN category IV; the Hrastov gozd v Krakovem pri Kostanjevici Nature Reserve is presented), and 1164 natural monuments (IUCN category III; the cave Križna jama is presented).