VELEBIT AND THE PROTECTION OF NATURE

Sa？etak Velebit is a cult and mythical Croatian mountain, "a holy mountain", a symbol of national identity. Velebit is also the feather in the cap of Croatian protected areas of nature, a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1978, a nature park since 1981, one part of it has been within the Paklenica National Park since 1949, and it has also been part of the Northern Velebit National Park since 1999. In its entirety, it is part of the EU Natura 2000 ecological network which clearly points to its global significance. In good weather, it can be seen entirely from the air at a height of 8,000 m and it has the shape of a dyke, which in a curve, bulges out into the sea. The littoral slope is higher and it rises from the sea to a height of 700 m to the lowest pass, then up to 1,757 m to the highest peak. From the northern landside the slope rises from 150 m to 1,150 m above the Lika plateau which lies at 500 – 600 m above sea level. Velebit is a centre of biodiversity and is the most significant endemic hub of flora and fauna in the Republic of Croatia. According to the last edition of the United Nations List of Protected Areas from 2003 there are 102,102 protected areas in the world with a total area of protection of 11.5% of the land and 0.5% of the surface of the sea. In the Republic of Croatia, according to the Protected Areas Register of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Nature as of 9th September 2015, there are a total of 408 areas which encompass 8.56% of the total surface area of the Republic of Croatia, in other words 12.23% of the land territory and 1.94% of the territorial sea which is above the global average. The largest part of the protected area is in the category of nature parks which accounts for 4.56% of the total surface area of the Republic of Croatia, and the largest contribution to that is in fact Velebit. The current law about the protection of nature sets out nine categories of protected regions, which to a greater extent correspond to one of the internationally recognised categories of protected regions IUCN – the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The wider region of Paklenica, with the surface area of 9,500 ha was, due to its natural foundations, geomorphological forms and preserved forests, declared amongst the first national parks, the same year as Plitvice Lakes. In the 34 Z. ？iki？ et al.: Velebit i za？tita prirode Senj. zb. 44, 17-34 (2017.) northern part of Velebit, with a surface area of 10,900 ha, the Northern Velebit National Park was declared in 1999, recognisable by its biodiversity and primaeval