conserving important plant areas: investing - Plantlife

Section III: Important Plant Area country reports – national overview of IPAs
Velebit IPA, Croatia.
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Croatia covers 56,500 km 2 from the Adriatic coast to the mountains of the north
plus 31,067 km 2 of territorial waters. Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and
Montenegro, and Hungary all share borders with Croatia.There are four
biogeographic zones: Pannonic, Continental,Alpine and Mediterranean which
contain large numbers of Balkan endemic plants and a rich mosaic of plant
communities.
Lowland Croatia is bordered by the Sava, Mura, Drava and Danube rivers. Large
areas of wet oak-woods contain the greatest biological diversity of the region, with
significant populations of threatened European bird species. Rivers, marshes and
carp ponds are important habitats for migratory water-fowl.Wet meadows and
pastures, remnants of inland dunes and the most westerly elements of steppe flora
and fauna are also present in this region. Highland Croatia consists of a section of
the Dinaric Alps; a ridge of karst (limestone) stretching parallel to the coast from
the north-west to the south-east of the
country.The highest peak is Dinara at
1,831m.The major habitats are the
beech and fir forests which contain wolf,
brown bear and lynx; the high mountain
rock and scree with unique endemic and
relict mountain flora and fauna
(e.g.Velebit degenia and Martino’s snow
vole); and remnants of the most
southerly European heaths.The
geomorphological diversity is immense;
8,000 registered phenomena include
caves, pits, rocks, ravines, karst valleys
and natural lakes containing unique
aquatic fauna. Coastal and insular
Croatia covers the littoral zone, and
forms the most indented part of the
Mediterranean coast, with 6116 km of
coastline including 1,231 islands, islets
and reefs.The major natural features are
the coastal forests and their succession
stages (evergreen holm oak, deciduous
forests of pubescent oak), the stony
limestone coast the islands, and the
rivers, marshes and lakes of the Adriatic
catchment area.
TONI NIKOLIĆ
Croatia is a member of the Council of
Europe and an accession state to the
European Union.
CONSERVING IMPORTANT PLANT AREAS: INVESTING IN THE GREEN GOLD OF SOUTH EAST EUROPE