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The Risnjak
National Park is located in Gorski kotar, the most wooded
part of western Croatia. It lies between latitude 45°24'
and 45°32' north and longitude 14°33'30" and 14°43'30"
east, in the immediate vicinity of the Adriatic Sea, only
15 km north-east from Rijeka. The Park covers an area of
63,5 km2 including the central part of the Risnjak and Snježnik
massif, as well as the upper flow of the river Kupa with
its source area.The area of the Risnjak massif was proclaimed
a national park in 1953, at the suggestion of an eminent
Croatian natural scientist and researcher of Risnjak, prof.
dr. Ivo Horvat. |
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Early
in 1997, the NP "Risnjak" was extended to the
area of the Snježnik massif and the source area of the river
Kupa, thus fulfilling the wish of prof. dr. Ivo Horvat to
protect and enhance this area. The area of the NP "Risnjak"
belongs to the Dinaric mountain system which stretches from
the eastern Alps to the Sar-Pindos Mountains, so that is
a part of the area which connects the Alps and the Dinarides.
Although large migrations of Alpine, arctic and boreal species
moved across the Risnjak and Snježnik massif towards southeast,
on these mountains a vegetation substantially different
from the one in the Alps has been preserved. Due to various
climatic, geologic, petrographic and other factors, a very
heterogeneous flora and fauna has been preserved in this
area. The Park is made mostly of limestone and dolomite
with major karst features (karren on bare rocks, rock falls,
doline/sinkholes, ponor/swallow holes, caves etc.). Therefore,
in spite of great amounts of rain and snow in this area,
in the Risnjak and Snježnik massif there are only very few
weak springs (Klupice in Smrekovac and Studenac in Javorov
kal), and the three permanent springs in Leska make a small
stream which sinks through a ponor towards the source of
the river Kupa which is located in the northeastern part
of the Park and which represents a distinguished hydro-geological
feature of this area. The source itself is an oval pond
drawn underneath vertical rocks, some 50 m wide. The researches
made so far have shown that the water springs out of two
separate vertical channels. The narrower channel is 86 m
deep, and the wider one 57 m. In the first few hundred meters
of its flow, the river Kupa receives water from two torrent-streams,
krašičevica and sušica, which at times bring great amounts
of water and material through their wild canyons. The whole
area of the river Kupa is rich in permanent and periodical
streams which vary in size and intensity. The highest peak
of the NP "Risnjak" - Veliki Risnjak - is only
1528 m high, but this massif together with the contiguous
Snježnik massif (1506 m) is nevertheless a great climatic
and vegetational barrier between coastal and continental
parts of Croatia. Climatic influences from the Adriatic
Sea penetrating from the nearby Kvarner bay and the continental
influences penetrating through the Kupa valley collide here
and play a significant role in determining the specific
climate of the NP "Risnjak" with pleasantly warm
summers and an average temperature up to 20°C, rainy springs
an autums, and long, cold snowy winters. At the Risnjak
mountain lodge, snow lies for full five months, sometimes
up to 4 m deep.
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