Triglav National Park

Triglav National Park

There are several milestones in developing and establishing Slovenia’s only national park. The first was the proposal by naturalist and seismologist Dr. Albin Belar, who, in 1908, even before the establishment of the first national parks in Europe, suggested a nature reserve park above Komarča.

However, his proposal was not realised. In the history of Triglav National Park, significant figures include Ferdinand Seidl, Fran Jesenko, Anton Šivic, Angela Piskernik, Miha Potočnik, and many others who worked within various societies, organisations and institutions and cared deeply for the Julian Alps.

In 1920, the Department for Nature Conservation and Natural Monuments of the Museum Society in Ljubljana presented a Memorial to the regional government for Slovenia in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes with concrete demands, including the declaration of protective parks. This was realised in 1924 when the Alpine Conservation Park in the Triglav Lakes Valley was declared by lease agreement for 20 years, covering an area of ​​1400 hectares (ha)—the first use of the name Triglav National Park.

In 1926, the name Triglav National Park was first used in the writings of Professor Fran Jesenko in the journal Jutro. After the war, due to the expiration of the lease, the Alpine Conservation Park ceased to exist. Still, in 1961, the People’s Assembly of Slovenia adopted a Decree declaring the Triglav Lakes Valley a national park covering 2000 ha under the name Triglav National Park.

In the following years, analyses and proposals for the park’s expansion followed. On May 28, 1981, with the first law on Triglav National Park, the protected area expanded to almost the entire Julian Alps, covering 83,807 ha. The law resulted from long-standing efforts to include a wider area of the Julian Alps in Triglav National Park. It remained in force until the adoption of a new law in 2010, which increased the parking area by another 174 ha with the inclusion of the settlement of Kneške Ravne above Baška graph in the Tolmin area.

Triglav National Park was established to preserve exceptional natural and cultural values and protect plant and animal life, ecosystems, characteristics of inanimate nature, and landscapes characteristic of the national park area. The purpose is also to promote sustainable development, which is consistent with the goals of the national park, and to enable visits to experience nature, cultural heritage, and spiritual values ​​of the Alpine region.

To achieve these goals, the Public Institution Triglav National Park manages numerous tasks in nature and natural resource conservation, cultural heritage and landscapes, settlement preservation, sustainable development, visiting and experiencing, and joint support activities to implement all areas effectively. In implementing the tasks, the Public Institution Triglav National Park collaborates with numerous stakeholders, from state institutions and organisations to local stakeholders, landowners, and other stakeholders in the area, and last but not least, visitors.

Triglav National Park is an area with natural values.

Triglav National Park is an area with distinct characteristics of high mountain terrain, geological, geomorphological, hydrological, and other natural values, extensive and diverse ecosystems, vibrant flora and fauna with rare and characteristic plant and animal species, with a high level of landscape quality and preservation of cultural heritage.

The highest point is the summit of Triglav (2864 m), after which the park is named, and the lowest is in the Tolmin Gorges (180 m). The park is characterised by the young folded mountains of the Eastern Julian Alps, rugged relief with pointed peaks, steep walls, and deeply incised glacial valleys. Forests cover two-thirds of the area: beech predominates on the southern side, and spruce and larch on the northern side.

Groundwaters, karst springs, watercourses, and glacial lakes are the wealth of Triglav National Park. The mountain ridges between the Sava and Soča rivers delineate the Adriatic and Black Seas hydrological boundary.

With its diverse appearance, thege cultural herita is also essential to the national park, contributing significantly to the protected area’s identity, recognizability, and high experiential value. Forestry, agriculture with mountain grazing, craft activities (including products of domestic craft from wood and wool), and tourism are also characteristic of the park area.

There are 43 natural monuments, 330 natural values, 365 units of cultural and UNESCO heritage registered in the park, and three monuments of national importance. The total area of ​​the park is 83,982 hectares, divided into three protection areas: the first area (31,488) and the second (32,412 ha), which together form the central area and the third (20,082 ha) or peripheral protection area.