The Nikaj-Mërtur Regional Nature Park ( sq, Parku Natyror Rajonal Nikaj-Mërtur) is a regional nature park in northern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, strategically inside the southeastern

Albanian Alps The Accursed Mountains ( sq, Bjeshkët e Nemuna; sh-Cyrl-Latn, Проклетије, Prokletije, ; both translated as "Cursed Mountains"), also known as the Albanian Alps ( sq, Alpet Shqiptare), are a mountain group in the western part of the B ...

Tropojë Tropojë (; sq-definite, Tropoja) is a municipality in Kukës County, northeastern Albania, within the historical ethnographic region of the Gjakova Highlands. The municipality consists of the administrative units of Bajram Curri, Bujan, Bytyç, ...

. It lies within the area of the historical

Nikaj-Mërtur Nikaj-Mërtur is a region of the Gjakova Highlands of Northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribes of Mërturi and Nikaj. The region of Nikaj-Mërtur is located in the south-east of the Albanian Alps, borderin ...

i region. The park is an area of alpine landscapes, deep

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

s, vertical

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

s, dense coniferous and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, small

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

s. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the park as Category IV. Like most of the Albanian Alps, it is listed as an important Plant Area, because it supports significant

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

species. The park lies within the

and borders

Theth National Park Theth National Park ( sq, Parku Kombëtar i Thethit) is a national park in northern Albania. Established in 1966, the park covers and is centred on the Albanian Alps, encompassing the larger portion of Shala Valley. The park was established to ...

in the northeast and

Valbonë Valley National Park The Valbona Valley National Park ( sq, Parku Kombëtar i Luginës së Valbonës) is a national park inside the Albanian Alps in northern Albania. The park covers a total area of , encompassing Valbona River and its surrounding areas with mounta ...

in the north and northeast. It is proposed to expand the park's boundaries and merge it with Valbonë Valley and Theth to establish the Balkan Peace Park. The Albanian Alps are a continuation of the

Dinaric Alps The Dinaric Alps (), also Dinarides, are a mountain range in Southern and Southcentral Europe, separating the continental Balkan Peninsula from the Adriatic Sea. They stretch from Italy in the northwest through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herz ...

, which extend from northeastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

down to northern

. Located between the steep and rugged topography of the

, the region is characterized by significant diversity in

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

. The region falls within the

Dinaric Mountains mixed forests The Dinaric Mountains mixed forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome in Southeastern Europe, according to both the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agenc ...

terrestrial

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

of the Palearctic

temperate broadleaf and mixed forest Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

. The vegetation of the park includes many communities of a Mediterranean and Eurasian type. It is covered by a mixture of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

, beech and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

trees growing on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

, which is characteristically to the Alps. The most widespread floral communities of oak are dominated by italian oak,

austrian oak ''Quercus cerris'', the Turkey oak or Austrian oak, is an oak native to south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is the type species of ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris'', a section of the genus characterised by shoot buds surrounded by soft bristles, ...

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

and

macedonian oak ''Quercus trojana'', the Macedonian oak is an oak in the turkey oak section ( ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''). It is native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, from southern Italy east across the southern Balkans (Croatia, Albania, Serbia, N ...

. The beech and pine trees are represented by species such as

european beech ''Fagus sylvatica'', the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. Description ''Fagus sylvatica'' is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more ...

bosnian pine ''Pinus heldreichii'' (synonym ''P. leucodermis''; family Pinaceae), the Bosnian pine or Heldreich’s pine, is a species of pine native to mountainous areas of the Balkans and southern Italy. Description It is an evergreen tree up to in height ...

and austrian pine. The park features a great variety of

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 and shelters

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

. It dwells a number of various species that are fast becoming rare in Southern Europe, with animals such as the

eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...

which inhabits the rugged forested areas, the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

and gray wolf. Moreover, the woods provide also shelter for species including chamois,

western capercaillie The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. ...

and

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It may also be known as the Griffon vulture, though it may be used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confused with Rü ...

. The park is an important sanctuary of the peregrine falcon and

common kestrel The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where n ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikaj-Mërtur Regional Nature Park Nature parks in Albania Tourist attractions in Albania Geography of Kukës County Tourist attractions in Kukës County Geography of Shkodër County Tourist attractions in Shkodër County Forests of Albania

See also

References