There are more than 15,000 animal sorts in Slovenia and more than 3,200 plant sorts. This is because of its amount of varying landscapes and climates. It results in one of the most diverse flora and fauna of the world.
Slovenia is also included in the Natura 2000 list of the EU of nature protection areas. This was set up to protect the biodiversity. More than one third of the country is on this list. The largest protected area is the Triglav National Park, which is 848 km² big. It is the only national park in Slovenia, but there are also three regional parks and 45 landscape parks.
The Škocjan caves were put on the UNESCO world heritage list. The Sečovlje Salt pans and Lake Cerknica were put on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance.
Almost 55% of the country is covered by its most typical landscape: Forests. Unlike the forests in other parts of the world, the forests in Slovenia are getting bigger. This is due to the growing over of deserted farm land in the more isolated parts of the country.
The largest animals in the Slovenian forests are the wolf, wildcat, deer, lynx, mouflon, wild boar and the brown bear. Some smaller animals are the marten, squirrel, badger and red fox.
Very famous is the Proteus Anguinus, or olm, which is a blind, amphibic salamander that lives only in karstic caves along the Adriatic Sea from Slovenia in the north to Herzegovina in the south.
The brown bear
Nowadays Slovenia is one of the few countries in Europe with a stabile and vital brown bear population. They have a fast expanding habitat and their amount is also strongly increasing. The Slovenian brown bears are very important for the relocation of bears in Italy, Austria, France and Spain.
The brown bear can often be found in the forests of the Karst mountain range at a height of 400-1200 metres. The largest Slovenian brown bear population is found in the forests in the south of the country.
The bear's senses, except for its eyesight, are extremely well developed. So it is very difficult to surprise or approach bears without being noticed. The bear hunts seldom and does not see people as a prey. We can say that in their meeting, the human and the bear feel quite the same: both human and bear want to fly.
Bear watching holidays
There are a lot of brown bears in Slovenia. The British tour operator Just Slovenia makes it possible to go for bear watching holidays. The price is £ 523.- per person and include flights from Stansted, three nights at a family-run tourist farm in the south of Slovenia with breakfast and dinner, car hire and an overnight, guided bear watching excursion. You will be taken to the woods, to a specially designed hide watch for the European Brown Bear. There are about 700 in Slovenia so there is a good chance of you seeing them. You may also see deer, foxes, wolves and wild boars. Most suitable season for bear watching: 15 April to 31 August. More info at: http://www.justslovenia.co.uk/
Triglav National Park
Triglav National Park was called after Mount Triglav in the heart of the park. This mountan has the highest peak of Slovenia (2864 metres). Triglav is Slovenian for Tree-headed, what of course refers to the three peaks of the mountain.
The mountain is a national symbol and is in the national coat of arms and the flag.
It is the only national park in the country and also the biggest it extends along the Italian border all the way to the Austrian border. The park covers 3% of Slovenian territories. It is also one of the oldest national parks of Europe, as it was first protected in 1924. The main task of the Public Institution is to protect the flora and fauna of the park and also carrying out research tasks concerning nature and nature tourism.
Saltpans of Sečovlje
The most important saltpans for Slovenia were the saltpans of Sečovlje. The first records of them date from the 13th century. From the 14th century onwards the salt trade expanded and influenced the development of the coastal towns a lot. In the Slovenian saltpans, salt is still produced in a traditional and natural way by using 'petola' crust, an artificially grown carpet on the bottom of crystallisation basins that prevents salt from mixing with sediments.
In 1989, the Sečovlje saltpans were declared a landscape park which was separated into four smaller areas or natural reserves which are of special botanical or zoological importance.
Nowadays there grow approximately 45 endangered Slovenian plant species in the saltpan area. There are only a few vertebrates that can stay alive in the extreme ecological conditions of the saltpans. The saltpans are a kind of natural fish farms and they are well known as an extraordinary nesting area for various birds. There is a fish that is very adapted to the salt conditions, the so called solinarka salt-fish (Aphanius fasciatus). The area is the Mediterranean most northern station for migrating birds. Sometimes there are even more than 270 different bird species in the saltpans. In spring and autumn there are crowds of birds in the area on their way between Europe and Africa. Throughout the year there are three sorts of herons, but they don’t nest there: the white heron, the little white heron and the gray heron. Some other animals that have been spotted in the saltpans are the European pond turtle, red foxes, the greater flamingo, kingfishers and the black snake.
As part of the guidelines of the protection of rich natural heritage, Slovenia has worked hard for the conservation of these ecosystems by placing the Sečovlje saltpans on the Ramsar list in 1993.
During the last ten years a museum complex was built at the Fontanigga area (the southern part of the saltpans) . The complex includes two restored salt-makers' houses, two neighbouring salt fields and the Giassi canal which is the main canal for the entry of sea-water. I really recommend going there.
You can choose to run, jog or having a romantic walk in the morning or evening, because at day it will be to warm. Don’t forget to visit the small shop where you can buy chocolate with salt flower:
Soline Pridelava Soli d.o.o.
115 Seča
Portorož - Portorose 6320
http://www.soline.si/
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