Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany

Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Stužica primaveral forest
Countries	Slovakia, Ukraine, Germany
Region	Prešov and Zakarpattia
Coordinates	49°5′10″N 22°32′10″E
Area	33,669 ha (83,198 acres)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name	Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany
Year	2007 (#31)
Number	1133
Region	Europe and North America
Criteria	ix
Bukovské vrchy

Location of massifs

Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany is a transnational composite nature site. The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians include 10 separate massifs located along the 185 km (115 mi) long axis from the Rakhiv mountains and Chornohora ridge in Ukraine over the Poloniny Ridge (Slovakia) to the Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The Ancient Beech Forests of Germany include five locations in various parts of Germany

The carpathian site covers a total area of 77,971.6 ha (192,672 acres), out of which only 29,278.9 ha (72,350 acres) are part of the actual preserved area, while the rest is considered a "buffer zone". Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians cover areas of Zakarpattia and Presov Regions. Over 70% of the site is located in Ukraine. The area includes two national parks, a biosphere reserve, and few habitat controlled areas (mostly in Slovakia). The both national parks along with the neighboring Poland compose a separate biosphere reserve, the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.

Besides Havešová, Rožok, and Stužica (all of them being located in Bukovské vrchy) there is a fourth component situated in Slovakia, namely Kyjovský prales of Vihorlat.

Ukrainian locations include Chornohora, Kuziy-Trybushany, Maramarosh, Stuzhytsia–Uzhok, Svydovets, and Uholka–Shyrikyi Luh. However, only few of ten components are accessible for visitors. Stužica is for example the only one of three locations in Bukovske vrchy (Slovakia) with available hiking trails.

The Five German forests cover 4,391 hectares and were added in 2011.

#	Massif	Region	Type of nature reserve	Preserved area	Buffer zone
1	Chornohora	Zakarpattia	Carpathian Biosphere Reserve	2476.8 ha	12925 ha
2	Uholka / Wide Meadow			11860 ha	3301 ha
3	Svydovets			3030.5 ha	5639.5 ha
4	Maramoros			2243.6 ha	6230.4 ha
5	Kuziy / Trybushany			1369.6 ha	3163.4 ha
6	Stuzhytsia / Uzhok		Uzh National Nature Park	2532 ha	3615 ha
7	Stužica / Bukovské vrchy	Presov	Poloniny National Park	2950 ha	11300 ha
8	Rožok		Presov Preserved areas	67.1 ha	41.4 ha
9	Vihorlat			2578 ha	2413 ha
10	Havešová			171.3 ha	63.9 ha

Most of the Slovak components of the world heritage site are situated in the Poloniny National Park at the easternmost and also the least populated part of the country. National Park was created on 1 October 1997 with a protected area of 298.05 km² and a buffer zone of 109.73 km².

See also

• East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve
• List of national parks of Slovakia
• Nearby villages
  • Nová Sedlica
  • Runina
  • Topoľa
  • Ruský Potok
  • Uličské Krivé

Gallery

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  Forest in Stuzica

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  Havešová

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  Stužica

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  Freshwater stream in Stužica

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  Stužica

External links

• "Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133. Retrieved 2008-09-28. 
• Beauty and changes of Primeval beech forests throghout a year