NATURE

The high-level of biodiversity in Goričko is a result of a high number of different habitats in the mosaic-like cultural landscape. Throughout the centuries, this land has been carefully used, designed, and maintained by man. The border location and the distance from larger canters contributed to a high level of isolation of the area, protecting it from intensive encroachments and slow down the development of intensive agriculture in the last century. The cultural landscape in flatland agricultural areas eventually became monotonous and, as a result, they began to face a disappearance of plant and animal species. In Goričko Region, the mosaic cultural landscape with its numerically and diversity of living species has been largely preserved to this day. This richness and preservation of the cultural landscape were the main reasons for the protection of the area with the status of Goričko Nature Park (KP Goričko) in 2003. The Goričko Nature Park is also integrated into Natura 200o sites, a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species, and some rare natural habitat types which are protected in their own right.