The Goričko Natural Park ( sl, Krajinski park Goričko) was established on 9 October 2003 and is an integral part of the trilateral Goričko–Örseg–Raab Natural Park. It covers an area of , which means that it is the second largest nature park in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. This is the most central European region in Slovenia, where Dinaric,

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

influences are almost not felt. The hills that the Goričko region was named after were created by the

Pannonian Sea The Pannonian Sea was a shallow ancient lake, where the Pannonian Basin in Central Europe is now. The Pannonian Sea existed from about 10 Ma (million years ago) until 1 Ma, during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, when marine sediments were dep ...

. The terrain rises slightly to the north. It is a hillocky landscape overgrown by trees. There are many marshes and wet meadows, although it is the most arid Slovenia region, with an annual rainfall of only approximately .

Flora and fauna

Goričko still preserves many natural conditions. Evidence of this is the best preserved population of

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...

s (''Lutra lutra'') in Slovenia. With extensive water networks as well as standing bodies of water, such as lakes, ponds, and marshes, favorable living conditions for the species are increasing. The best-preserved natural

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s are the oak forests, the habitat of several rare species, including the oak beetle (''Cerambyx cerdo'') and the

stag beetle Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections ...

(''Lucanus cervus''). The local

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

(''Cervus elaphus'') is the only native population of deer in Slovenia that avoided extermination in the 19th century. The forests are also home to the hazel dormouse (''Muscardinus avellanarius''). This is a rare relative of the

edible dormouse ''Glis'' is a genus of rodent that contains two extant species, both known as edible dormice or fat dormice: the European edible dormouse ''(Glis glis'') and the Iranian edible dormouse (''Glis persicus''). It also contains a number of fossil spec ...

References

External links

Krajinski park Goričko, Slovenija

Gorička informativna stran
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goricko Natural Park Landscape parks in Slovenia

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links