Guide - Nature

With their beauty, distinctiveness and richness of flora and fauna, protected natural values in Croatia present the country's most important treasure. Due to its specific position Croatia encompasses both lowland, highland and coastal regions which with their different geographies and climates create beautiful scenery and diverse animal and plant life.

Due to their uniqueness some parts of Croatia have been identified as internationally valuable areas. For example, Plitvice Lakes National Park is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Register of biosphere reserves within UNESCO Man and the Biosphere scientific programme includes two areas located in Croatia. Velebit Nature Park which encompasses national parks Paklenica and North Velebit was first identified as a biosphere reserve and in June/July 2012 UNESCO added the second biosphere reserve from Croatia to the list – Mura-Drava-Danube transboundary reserve, precious for its variety of wet habitats and plant and animal communities, especially numerous bird and fish species.

Nature parks Kopački Rit and Lonja Field, together with Neretva Delta and Crna Mlaka – special ornithological reserve – are all included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. At the same time due to the richness of their bird habitats Kopački Rit, Lonja Field and Lake Vrana are also included in List of the Important Bird Areas in Europe.