List of protected areas of Croatia explained

The main protected areas of Croatia are national parks, nature parks and strict reserves. There are 444 protected areas of Croatia, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include 8 national parks in Croatia, 2 strict reserves and 11 nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network.^[1]

The total area of all national parks in the country is 930km², of which 235km² is sea surface. Each of the national parks is maintained by a separate institution, overseen and funded by the government ministry of nature conservation and spatial development. The State Institute for Nature Protection provides centralized oversight and expertise.

National parks

All eight national parks are located in karst area.

#	Name	Area	Established in
1	Plitvice Lakes	296.9km2^[2]	1949
2	Paklenica	95km2^[3]	1949
3	Risnjak	63.5km2^[4]	1953
4	Mljet	53km2^[5]	1960
5	Kornati	217km2^[6]	1980
6	Brijuni	33.9km2^[7]	1983
7	Krka	109km2^[8]	1985
8	Sjeverni Velebit	109km2^[9]	1999

Nature parks

#	Name	Area	Established in
1	Kopački Rit	231km2	1967
2	Medvednica	179.4km2	1981
3	Velebit	2270km2	1981
4	Biokovo	193km2	1981
5	Telašćica	70.5km2	1988
6	Lonjsko Polje	506.5km2	1990
7	Žumberak-Samoborsko gorje	217km2	1999
8	Učka	160km2	1999
9	Papuk	336km2	1999
10	Vrana lake	57km2	1999
11	Lastovsko otočje	196km2	2006
12	Dinara	630.5km2	2021

Strict reserves

Bijele and Samarske stijene
Hajdučki and Rožanski kukovi

Special reserves

There are 80 special reserves in Croatia:^[10]

37 forest vegetation reserves
22 ornithological reserves
9 botanical reserves
2 ichthyological reserves
2 ichthyological and ornithological reserves
2 zoological reserves
2 sea reserves
1 geological and paleontological reserve
1 paleontological reserve
1 geographical and botanical reserve
1 botanical and zoological reserve

External links

- Croatia - National parks

Notes and References

Book: State Institute for Nature Protection, Ministry of Culture (Croatia). PDF. Biodiversity of Croatia. 2006. Jasminka Radović. Kristijan Čivić. Ramona Topić. 953-7169-20-0. 13 October 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111016173315/http://www.vukovarsko-srijemska-zupanija.com/upload/paragrafi_upload/2011-3-21_58011335_BiodiversityofCroatia.pdf. 16 October 2011.
Web site: Osnovni podaci . 2008-11-10 . hr . NP Plitvice Lakes . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090328115707/http://www.np-plitvicka-jezera.hr/page.aspx?PageID=179&parent=3 . 2009-03-28.
Web site: About the Park. 2008-11-10. NP Paklenica. https://web.archive.org/web/20140407062741/http://www.paklenica.hr/Paklenica_en/Paklenica_O_Parku_en.htm. 2014-04-07. dead.
Web site: General info. 2011-06-05. risnjak.hr.
Web site: About the park . 2024-11-04 . Official website . NP Mljet.
Web site: History of Kornati NP. www.np-kornati.hr. 2016-08-03.
Web site: Geographic position. 2008-11-10. NP Brijuni. https://web.archive.org/web/20120709074438/http://www.brijuni.hr/nautika. 2012-07-09. dead.
Web site: National Park Krka. 2012-12-25. npkrka.hr. https://web.archive.org/web/20040923064623/http://www.npkrka.hr/#/o-nama/nacionalni-park-krka/?lang=eng. 2004-09-23. dead.
Web site: About the park . 2008-11-10 . NP Sjeverni Velebit . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014122514/http://www.np-sjeverni-velebit.hr/novi_web/Velebit_eng/velebit_about_park.htm . 2008-10-14.
Web site: Other protected areas . Nature protection web portal . . 2012-05-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120317112616/http://www.zastita-prirode.hr/eng/Protected-Nature/Protected-Areas/Other-protected-areas . 2012-03-17 .