Lakavica, or Kriva Lakavica ( mk, Лакавица or ), is a river in the east-central part of the

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

, in

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

and Konče municipalities. It is a left tributary of the

Bregalnica Bregalnica (, ) is the second largest river in North Macedonia. It starts as a spring near the mountain city of Berovo and it passes near the cities of Makedonska Kamenica, Kočani, Vinica and Štip, before joining the river Vardar on its way t ...

River, the second largest river in country. The Lakavica Valley is very fertile and dotted with many villages and farms.

Description

Kriva Lakavica flows down from the northern slopes of the Gradeska mountain range at an altitude of 570 m, from the village Sofilari, at a height of 251 m. It is 42 km long with a southeastern current, ending south of the village of Dolni Lipovikj. The river moves in a south-southeast direction with a total drop of 319 m and an average decline of 7.6‰ covering a total area of 425 km². Lake Mantovo was constructed out of the upper portion of the lake in 1978. In terms of water flows, there are characteristic torrents: through summer it dries up, and in the case of torrential rains, the water level increases up to 2 meters, with the water pouring from the riverbed, causing huge damage to the surrounding arable land. This flash flooding resulted in a child's death in 2014.https://www.brif.mk/dete-se-udavi-vo-rekata-kriva-lakavitsa/

Environment

Important Bird Area

A 5,730 ha tract of land encompassing the Lakavica River and Lake Mantovo has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because it supports populations of

European roller The European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') is the only member of the roller family of birds to breed in Europe. Its overall range extends into the Middle East, Central Asia and the Maghreb. The European roller is found in a wide variety of ha ...

s and masked shrikes.

References

Rivers of North Macedonia Štip Municipality Important Bird Areas of North Macedonia {{RMacedonia-river-stub