PLITVICE LAKES NATIONAL PARK

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest and largest national park in the Republic of Croatia, famous for its numerous turquoise-coloured lakes separated by tufa, or travertine, barriers. Its karst landscape is characterised by specific hydrological traits and exceptional biological diversity, which helped the National Park gain international significance.

The specific hydrogeological properties of the Park's rocks have enabled the retention of water on the dolomite rocks and resulted in the water cutting canyons in the limestone deposits. For that reason, the lake system is divided into the Upper and Lower lakes. Today's appearance of the lake system is a result of the tufa formation process, which created the barriers. It is an exceptionally complex and sensitive biodynamic process dependant on numerous ecological factors. The fact that the process is still ongoing tells us that the environmental factors remain intact.

The Plitvice Lakes National Park is an area rich in forest and grassland habitats with an abundance of flora and fauna. Almost 80% of the Park's area is covered with forests and, within the boundaries of the National Park, there is also a special forest vegetation reserve, Corkova Uvala. In terms of biodiversity, the Plitvice Lakes National Park is one of the most valuable regions of Croatia, in which a significant share of the population of many species threatened at national and world level still enjoys the safety of well-preserved habitats.

CODE OF CONDUCT

To protect the exceptional values of this area and to ensure your own safety, the following activities are strictly prohibited:

Littering

Camping

Lighting fire

Yelling

Picking and damaging the plants

Damaging the trees

Damaging the rocks

Cycling

Swimming

Hunting and disturbing the animals

Feeding the animals

Fishing

Walking dog without a leash

Drone use