Goricko Nature Park Information Center
Grad 191, 9264 Grad
tel.: (031) 354 149
e-po¹ta: park.goricko@siol.net

Reasons for establishing the park

Why Goričko Nature park?

For years Goričko has been a forgotten region since the Slovene perception of Prekmurje reached only as far as the Mura river and the fertile plain along it. The course of events was slower here, and due to the isolation and the Iron Curtain Goričko remained an island among very different regions - only Raab in Austria and Őrség in Hungary are similar to it, and in these regions measures have already been taken to protect the environment.

Goričko did not suffer any major and violent changes, and therefore it has remained a cultural landscape in the noblest meaning of the word - its variety is a product of human hands. Several special features can be found here: a land of the youngest Slovene and at the same time very old Palaeozoic rocks as well as volcanic rocks which are the consequence of an eruption which occurred 1.6 million years ago. A climate which produces the smallest amount of precipitation per year. Biologically the most Central European region, where the influences of the Dinaric mountain range, the Mediterranean and the Alps can hardly be felt. Living in harmony with nature, a great variety of agricultural crops and a conservative attitude towards the environment. A balance between nature and humanity. Beautiful wetlands and wetland meadows along unspoiled streams. A number of birds which are rare in the rest of Slovenia are quite abundant around here due to the healthy environment - as many as 174 species have been counted, among which three are of international importance. Several amphibians, brook lampreys and crayfish live here, as well as otters, an excessive number of deer which cause damage to the fields, three rare species of bats and numerous small mammals. The healthy forests offer the abundance of mushrooms, approximately a thousand varieties of ferns grow here, one third of all Slovene varieties, and also around 100 species on the Slovene Red List, the list of rare and endangered plant species.

So why a park?

Because Goričko is an island in the middle of different regions and is therefore something special. This should be made use of: the people have managed to preserve the environment healthy and diverse, and now that the environment in their neighbourhood is degraded and impoverished, this should bear them fruit.

The park will preserve the healthy environment, the diversity of meadows, orchards, marshes and dry growing places. Such a landscape creates a thousand possibilities for spending free time, reliving childhood for older generations, recreation for the younger ones, and the satisfaction of curiosity for the very youngest. Such country offers a variety of special and healthy food and a high-quality living environment for co-existence with all animal and plant species and people who still live in Goričko even though they have left the regions around it ... That is why Goričko is a unique island.

 

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