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Slovakia. The republic’s highest peak, the 2654m Gerlachovský štít, is in the
High Tatras. Outdoor enthusiasts also frequent two subsidiary ranges of the
Tatras: the Malá Fatra and Veľká Fatra. Slovakia faces the Czech Republic
across the modest White Carpathians.
At the eastern end of the Low Tatras is the Slovenský raj region, which
is riddled with gorges and mountain streams. Several thousand limestone
caves dot the Slovak Karst in the south.
The main exception to all this high relief is the southwestern lowland
region outside Bratislava around the Danube river, which is also Slovakia’s
main agricultural area. The river and its two tributaries form much of the ar-
ea’s boundary with Hungary, and the Váh, Slovakia’s longest river at 433km,
joins the Danube here. Slovakia’s largest natural lake is the 218-hectare Veľké
Hincovo in the High Tatras.
WILDLIFE
Even though there is a plethora of plant and animal life in the Czech and
Slovak Republics, wildlife-watching is not a huge tourist draw-card. This is
due mainly to the republics’ natural features: densely forested hills provide
perfect cover for many species and the steep alpine mountains in Slovakia
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There are more than 1500
sandstone spires that
average 15m in height
in the Adršpach-Teplice
Rocks area.
The Jasov Cave in the
southern part of East
Slovakia bears graffiti
scrawled by Czech
Hussites in 1452.
Birds of the Czech
Republic, by Joseph Kren,
details 394 friendly fliers
to look for while you’re
out and about.
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ENVIRONMENT •• National Parks
lonelyplanet.com
ENVIRONMENT •• National Parks & Notable Protected Landscapes
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don’t make life easy for amateur animal-spotters. Nevertheless, the Slo-
vak Wildlife Society (%044-5293752; www.slovakwildlife.org) occasionally organises
wildlife-watching walks in the Tatras.
Animals
Slovakia’s most diverse wildlife area is the High Tatras – home to brown
bears, wolves, lynxes and other wildcats, marmots, otters, eagles and mink.
Most of these animals are protected from hunting in national parks. One
animal protected even outside parks is the chamois, a mountain antelope,
which was for a time near extinction but is now making a comeback. Deer,
pheasants, partridges, ducks, wild geese, storks, grouse, eagles and vultures
can be seen throughout the countryside. Europe’s heaviest bird, the great
bustard (or dropie), makes a home on the Danube flood plains.
The most common types of wildlife in the Czech mountains are marmots
(giant ground squirrels), otters, martens (weasel-like carnivores) and mink.
In the woods and fields there are pheasants, partridges, deer, ducks and wild
geese. Rarer animals are lynxes, eagles, vultures, ospreys (large, long-winged
hawks), storks, bustards and grouse. Very occasionally, wolves and brown
bears wander across the Carpathian mountains into eastern Moravia.
You might see a less frequently spotted eagle in the High Tatras; otherwise,
the flood plains of the Danube river in West Slovakia are an excellent region
for bird-watching, particularly during the migration periods of spring and
autumn.
As for animal dangers, there’s not much to speak of; Slovakia witnesses the
occasional bear attack, but that’s about it. Bears, wolves and lynxes roam the
bigger national parks and protected areas in Slovakia, but a pile of excrement
is the closest you’ll likely come to them.
Plants
Despite centuries of clear-felling for cultivation, forests – mainly oak, beech
and spruce – still cover about one-third of the Czech Republic. Dwarf pine
is common near the tree line (1400m). Above it there is little but grasses,
shrubs and lichens.
Most remaining virgin forest is in inaccessible mountain areas. Over half
of the high-altitude forest in North Bohemia – especially in the Krušné hory,
Jizerské hory and Krkonoše mountains – has been killed or blighted by acid
rain from unregulated industrial development.
Forests still cover 41% of Slovakia, including 70 fragments of virgin forest,
despite centuries of deforestation. Low-lying areas (up to 800m) are popu-
lated by oak and beech, midrange (700m to 1500m) with fir and spruce, and
upper alpine areas (above 1500m) are dotted with dwarf pine. A devastating
windstorm whisked through the Tatra National Park in 2004, uprooting huge
swaths of midrange trees wholesale. Parts of the once heavily forested High
Tatras resorts are barren. The last storm of this magnitude hit in the 1920s,
so it’ll be another 80 years or so until trees reach prestorm levels.
NATIONAL PARKS
Though national and local authorities have set aside numerous national
parks and protected landscape areas, the emphasis is on visitor use as well
as species protection.
National parks and protected areas make up approximately 16% of the
Czech Republic and 23% of Slovakia. Their diverse landscapes and easy
accessibility make them popular with both locals and tourists. Out of the
four national parks in the Czech Republic, Šumava and Krkonoše win the
popularity race hands down: both are well-known winter ski resorts and
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