Current view: Text account
Site description (2000 baseline):
Site location and context
Koèevsko-Kolpa is a huge area of limestone karst on the high Dinaric plateau in southern Slovenia. The coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, which connect with Snežnik plateau and Gorski Kotar in Croatia, represent one of the largest and least populated areas of dense forest in Europe. Wooded land (including plantations) covers 95% of the area, and includes remnants of primeval forest, while pastures and grasslands cover 5%. The whole area was suddenly and almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants in 1941, and for political reasons many human settlements in the area remained abandoned after the Second World War. Formerly open areas (grasslands, orchards and villages) are thus reverting naturally to scrub and forest. The Kolpa river canyon on the international border has large cliffs on the southern slopes.
The site supports internationally important numbers of several SPECs of woodland/forest (even some boreal-type species). Breeding species of global conservation concern that do not meet IBA criteria:
Haliaeetus albicilla (1 resident pair, the only known nest in Slovenia).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Ornithologically, the Koèevsko forests are not well known. Only one ornithologist has made quantitative surveys. The well preserved remnants of primeval forest are of great scientific importance.
National Low
International None218 ha of IBA covered by six Nature Reserves (Koèevski pragozdovi [`virgin forest remnants'], 218 ha).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Kočevsko (Slovenia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/kočevsko-iba-slovenia on 23/11/2024.
