Protected areas of Croatia


The main protected areas of Croatia are national parks, nature parks and strict reserves. There are 444 protected areas of Croatia, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include 8 national parks in Croatia, 2 strict reserves and 11 nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network.
The total area of all national parks in the country is, of which is sea surface.
Each of the national parks is maintained by a separate institution, overseen and funded by the government ministry of nature conservation and spatial development. The State Institute for Nature Protection provides centralized oversight and expertise.

National parks

All eight national parks are located in karst area.
# NameImageAreaWebsiteEstablished in
1 Plitvice Lakes1949
2 Paklenica1949
3 Risnjak1953
4 Mljet1960
5 Kornati
1980
6 Brijuni1983
7 Krka1985
8 Sjeverni Velebit1999

Nature parks

# NameImageEstablished inWebsite
1.Kopački rit1967
2.Papuk1999
3.Lonjsko polje1990
4.Medvednica1981
5.Žumberak-Samoborsko gorje1999
6.Učka1999
7.Velebit1981
8.Vrana lake1999
9.Telašćica1988
10.Biokovo1981
11.Lastovsko otočje2006

Strict reserves

There are 80 special reserves in Croatia: