Why to choose the region of Kvarner and Highlands ?

Kvarner and Highlands

The close vicinity of the main emitting markets and accessibility by land, sea and air, place Kvarner among the tourist destinations with an exceptionally favourable geographical position. The coastal region, islands and mountains - three natural but very different regions at a relatively small distance from each other, make the Kvarner tourist offer diverse and very different, while its fundamental characteristics are numerous and good quality tourist product segments which rest on a rich 162 year tradition hotel-tourist, historical and cultural tradition and heritage. That is why the diversity and richness of natural resources and cultural-historical heritage are undoubtedly a comparative advantage of Kvarner and together with numerous other content and tourist segments adapted to contemporary guests, it represents, not only a motive for tourist arrivals, but always constantly new tourist exploration, understanding and discovery.
The Kvarner region, Primorje-Gorski kotar County , encompasses 6.3 percent of the area of the Republic of Croatia and extends over 3,588 square kilometres. According to the last census in 2001 it had a population of 305,505 people. The seat of the Primorje-Gorski kotar County is Rijeka and in the County region there are 14 cities, 21 municipalities and 510 settlements. The authors of the Main tourist development plan for the Primorje-Gorski kotar County, on which voting is expected soon, has divided the Kvarner region into five segments: the islands Rab, Krk, Cres and Lošinj, into two waterfront regions: Opatija and Crikvenica-Vinodol rivieras, followed by Rijeka and surrounding areas and the region of Gorski kotar.

Natural heritage

Plant world

The diversity and richness of the plant and animal world are well known and recognised Kvarner strong suits. With about 2,700 plant species, among which there are numerous rare and endemic species, the Kvarner flora falls among the richest flora regions in Croatia . On the Island of Krk there are about 1500 plant species registered, while the plant world on the islands of Cres and Lošinj fall a little behind. The flora of Kvarner, due to its regional division and diversity in the region, offers guests and passers-by enjoyment in rich pine forests, special aromatic effects of renowned pine-cones, scents of sage, rosemary, basil, bay leaves and myrtle, as well as delicacies prepared from chestnuts, figs, olives and forest fruits and especially numerous and edible species of mushrooms.

Animal world

The information that 73 percent of amphibians and about 87 percent of reptiles in all of Croatia can be found in Kvarner, that the Island of Krk alone has 30 percent of the autochthonous species of amphibians and reptiles, that it represents the island with the greatest number of these species of animal groups in the Mediterranean, that the Kvarner region has 14 species of snakes registered and that 81 species of mammals live in this area, two thirds of the total number of mammals in Croatia, is only one confirmation of the ecologically preserved animal heritage. Of the 114 species of birds, which at a European level are considered endangered, 83 species come to the Kvarner region. Golden eagles, Griffon vultures, Grey hawks, Booted eagles, Snake eagles, grouses and owls nest here, while in the forests of Gorski kotar and coastal hills and mountains there still live bears, wolves, lynxes, foxes, jackals, wild cats, badgers, martens, deer, does, chamois and more than 500 types of butterflies. The Ecological centre "Caput Insulae" which was founded in 1993 in the locality Beli, ensures the long-term protection of Griffon vultures, one of four species of flying vultures which still live in Europe on the Island of Cres. The Brown bear live in the forests of Gorski kotar, while a special sea attraction is the Mediterranean seal and the well known delicious Kvarner scampi which are a gastronomic delight.
The aquatorium of the islands of Cres and Lošinj are a protected dolphin habitat, which guests and visitors may also "adopt". This encourages their protection on which systematic work has been carried out since 1987, when the action for research of dolphins and the sea with the objective of protection of all endangered species and revalorisation of their worth commenced.

Eco protection

To preserve the diversity of the plant and animal world in Kvarner efforts and resources are constantly being invested into ecology, into eco-activities and education. During 2005 the exponents of this work were also awarded numerous acknowledgments by international ecological and educational organisations. Among them there are 23 Blue flags for the orderliness and cleanliness of the beach and sea, 3 for marinas and 10 for functioning of eco-schools.
The National Park Risnjak with its headquarters in Crni Lug near Delnice, has at its disposal 6,400 hectares of forest area with more than thirty specific plant communities, with about ten different forest associations and sub-associations, a 4.2 kilometre long educational trail, mountain lodge, restaurant and accommodation capacities are a special attraction and asset of Kvarner. With its luxuriant plant foliage, diverse animal world and its speleological facilities and mountain trails, lodge, pansion and hospitality facilities also make the Nature Park Učka stand out, while other natural reserves include the Bijele and Samar cliffs, Mrkopalj, Geo-morphological reserve Vražji prolaz and Zeleni vir, Skrad, Devela Lipa - Veliki Rebar, Lokve, the forest Crnika in Glavotok on the Island of Krk, the forest Dundo on Rab, while ornithological reserves can be found on the islands of Cres, Krk and Prvić.

Cultural heritage

The cultural-historical heritage of Kvarner is exceptionally interesting and content full and this has resulted in the development of various selective forms of tourism, like for example ethno-tourisms, sacral and cultural tourism. In total, Kvarner has 278 protected cultural localities, of which 117 are historical entities, 161 are historical buildings and complexes. The most numerous is the profane heritage, followed by ethnological, memorial and sacral, then hydro-archaeological and archaeological heritage. Nearly every second or third town, municipality or locality have something to offer their guests in this respect, and one of the most frequently mentioned and set apart monuments is the Bašćanska ploća (stone tablet), a monument to the Croatian language carved in stone from about 1100 A.D. written in transitory type of script, from rounded to squarish Glagolitic script. Along with church ritual manuscripts and texts, the events from everyday social life, as well as legal documents like the Vinodol, Vrbnik and Krk laws were written in Glagolitic script. Also worthy of attention are the numerous Marian shrines among which is the Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat above Rijeka, one of the oldest shrines in the world, in which from 1291 to 1294 the holy Nazarethan house was kept. (HTZ)