The Mehedinți Plateau Geopark ( ro, Geoparcul Platoul Mehedinți) is a
protected area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
(
natural park category V
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
) situated in
Romania, on the administrative territory of counties
Gorj (5%) and
Mehedinți (95%).
Description
The Mehedinți Plateau Geopark with an area of 106,500 ha was declared a natural protected area by the ''Government Decision'' Number 2152 on November 30, 2004 (published in ''Romanian Official Paper'' Number 38 on January 12, 2005)
and represents a hill area (
ravine, gentler
valleys,
limestone pavement
A limestone pavement is a natural karst landform consisting of a flat, incised surface of exposed limestone that resembles an artificial pavement. The term is mainly used in the UK and Ireland, where many of these landforms have developed dist ...
s,
caves,
pit cave
A pit cave, shaft cave or vertical cave—or often simply called a pit (in the US) and pothole or pot (in the UK); jama in South Slavic languages scientific and colloquial vocabulary (borrowed since early research in the Western Balkan Dinaric ...
s,
forests,
pasture) that shelters a large variety of
flora and
fauna, some of the species very rarely or
endemics
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
.
Protected areas in the park include: Complexul carstic de la Ponoarele, Pădurea cu liliac Ponoarele, Cheile Coșutei, Cornetul Babelor și Cerboanei, Cornetul Bălții, Cornetul și Topolniței Cave, Cornetul Bălții, Izvorul și stâncăriile de la Câmana, Pereții calcaroși de la Izvoarele Cășutei and Epuran Cave.
See also
*
Protected areas of Romania
This is a list of protected areas of Romania.
About 5.18% of the area of Romania has a protected status (12,360 km²), including the Danube Delta, which makes half of these areas (2.43% of Romania's area).
National parks
There are 14 natio ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehedinti Plateau Geopark
Protected areas of Romania
Protected areas established in 2005
Geography of Gorj County
Geography of Mehedinți County
Tourist attractions in Gorj County
Tourist attractions in Mehedinți County