MOSAIC LANDSCAPE
The Nature Park is situated in the northwestern part of Croatia where the characteristics of the Dinarides, the Alps and the Pannonian plain meet. The Dinaric type is featured in karst landscape, the Alpine landscape is obvious in steep and harsh mountain ridges and mild hilly countryside is a typically Pannonic feature.
Mrzlo Polje Žumberačko; Photo: Romeo Ibrišević
In this part of the country the majority of settlements are situated between 400-700 meters above the sea-level, which presents a valuable feature of the Park. Along the northern border there is a mountain ridge which was not exposed to human activity, so it remained very close to its original shape. Woods and mountain pasture grounds/grasslands dominate here. In this part you cannot find settlements, roads are rare and there are a lot of springs on it’s edges.
Samobor hills are situated in the eastern part of the Park and have a different landscape as there are steep and deeply cut valleys with creeks rich in water and mountain ridges covered with woods where you can see small villages. Plešivica area in the south-east is densely populated on its southern side where the locals grow numerous vineyards on mild terraces which stretch up to Jastrebarsko. The top ridge and northern side are steeper and covered with forests.
Plešivica; Photo: Romeo Ibrišević
The central part of the Park descends towards south where hills, flattened fields and cut-in river valleys (for example, canyons of the Kupčina and the Slapnica) alternate. In this part is the highest density of settlements which are evenly distributed over the area. Traditional lifestyle and land cultivation made a typical landscape where bigger and smaller villages interweave with fields, grassland, pasture grounds and woods.
The south-east area of Vivodina is full of mild hills with numerous vineyards, fields and is densely populated. The western part of the Park is scarcely populated and is dominated by woods. In the areas around villages grasslands spread and some number of fields are still being cultivated.