The Cozia National Park ( ro, Parcul Național Cozia) ( national park category II IUCN) is situated in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, in the north-east part of

Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county (județ) of Romania. Located in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt River), it is also part of the wider Wallachia region. Its capital city is Râ ...

, in administrative territory of localities

Brezoi Brezoi is a town located in Vâlcea County, Romania. It administers eight villages: Călinești, Corbu, Drăgănești, Golotreni, Păscoaia, Proieni, Valea lui Stan and Văratica. It is situated in the historical region of Oltenia Oltenia (, also ...

Călimănești Călimănești, often known as Călimănești-Căciulata, is a town in Vâlcea County, southern Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Oltenia and the northern part of the county, on the traditional route connecting the region to Tr ...

, Racoviţa, Perișani, Sălătrucel and Berislăvești.

Location

The National Park is located in the central-southern of the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ro, Carpații Meridionali ; hu, Déli-Kárpátok) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Pr ...

, in the south-eastern

Lotru Mountains Lotru Mountains ( ro, Munții Lotrului) are a group of mountains that are part of the Southern Carpathians, in Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It bo ...

and the east of Căpățânii Mountains on the middle course of

Olt River The Olt (Romanian and Hungarian; german: Alt; la, Aluta or ', tr, Oltu, grc, Ἄλυτος ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average discha ...

Description

Cozia National Park with an area of 171 km² was declared a natural protected area by the ''Law Number.5 of March 6, 2000'' (published in ''Romanian Official Paper'', No.152 on April 12, 2000) and represents a mountainous area with

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 '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

specific to the Southern Carpathians. Besides its peculiar aspect of flora elements, Cozia National Park has a good number of lichen species. Mustafa YAVUZ and Dr. Gülşah ÇOBANOĞLU from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

studied Lichen Flora of Cozia National Park in 2007 In 2017, two old-growth forests were inscribed in the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe nature site.

References

National parks of Romania Geography of Vâlcea County Protected areas established in 2000 Tourist attractions in Vâlcea County Primeval Beech Forests in Europe Central European mixed forests {{Europe-protected-area-stub