Discover Montenegro

Flora and Fauna in Montenegro Pictures of Montenegro

Flora

Montenegro, especially in spring and summer, is filled with a wide variety of wild flowers and it always has a big range of plants. Serious botanists would do well to arm themselves tih a book like Oleg Polunin's Flowers of Greece and the Balkans; the rest of us should problarly take a Latin dictionary as well. What follows concentrates only a few of the more recognisable species.
The Dalmatian coast climate of generally hot dry summers, mild damp winters and early springs means the vegetation is attractive and quite varied. There are a lot of evergreen trees, small, greyish aromatic shrubs, brightly coloured flowers, especially in the springs and at the beginning of autumn and a high degree of cultivation. Sometimes the land suffers from deforestation or over-grazing. The trees are often varieties of pine or less familiar members of the oak family as well as junipers and, of course, olives.There are also large areas of Maquis, a short of high dense scrub growing to 2-3m, composed largely of hard-leaved evergreen shrubs. Maquis often result from deforestation and may just be stagen on the way to garrigue, which is not a disease but a stunned version of the Maquis. In spring the Garrigue can be quit colourful, but by high summerit is distinctly monochrome. The marshy areas are full of rushes and sedge but also have irises and orchids. Further inland and at higher levels the characteristic vergetation of oaks, hornbeams, planes, willows, some elms and poplars with oleanders and tamarisk is called by the botanists Mediterranean mixed deciduous. There are also some big beech forests. Above about 600 meters one finds wide areas of fir and pine rising to nearly 2.000 meter, which is the tree line.

National Parks and conservation

There is no questoin that the country had made a unique pledge to adopt an ecologically protective policy, but it is taking time to implement. In the main this is because most of the infrastructure, water and drainage etc are still antiquated, though these issues are being adressed by the Montenegrins with such international aid as it at present receives and with help of such non-government agencies at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. There are four national parks, all well worth visiting:

Biogradska Gora
Lovcen
Skadar Jezero
Durmitor

Fauna

According to a report written in July 2001 by the wildlife Conservation Society of Yugoslavia, it is possible to find in the wilder parts of Montenegro bears, wolves, lynxes and jackals.

Bears

The numbet of Balkan brown bears at large in 2000 was said to be 125, of which 15 were in the area of Pluzine, 16 around Pljevlja, 6 near Berane and 8 near Rozaje. Of the rest, 31 were in the north of Montenegro, aroun Bjelasica and Sinjajevina mountains, and 45 in the northeast, in Komovi, Prokletije, Visitor and Mokra mountains. Montenegrin bears generally live between 900m and 2.600m, concentrated in the 1.000 - 1.500 band. They prefer broadleaf forests to conifers and like the human presence to be minimal, but they do not mind a few sheeps and cattle in the summer and fancy some orchards and fields in the vicinity. Plums are particular favourite. Bears are only agressive, says the society, when they are protecting their cubs or their food supply, or if they are scared or surprised. And they dont like dogs much. Human attacks are very rare but in July 2001 some children were attacked while collecting mushrooms near Rozaje. Montenegrin hunting law only protect females with cubs under two years old in the winter months, but males as well as females in the summer.

Wolves

There are believed to be 200-300 wolves in the northern hilly/mountain areas. They like deciduous forests with a few glades and meadows and are not averse to some livestock in the vicinity. There is said to be no recent record of a wolf attacking a human, except occasionally when they are rabid. It is not necessarily easy to tell at a distance when they are in this state.
Wolves are unprotected in Montenegro, and indeed in some places they attract a 15 euro bounty. An estimated 300 were shot in 1980 athough numbers killed are rather lower today.

Lynxes and jackals

A small number of Balkan lynx inhabit the area around Pluzine. They prefer to live between 550m and 2.500m in scarcely populated rocky areas of oak and beech forest. They have not known to attack humans but will occasionally go for a dog. Like jackals, lynx avoid the home bases of the bigger and stronger wolf. A few jackals exist in the southern Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean areas but they do not bother anyone much.

Snakes

Snakes are not much more likely like wolves to cause problems for the visitor. There are harmless water snakes and somewhat harmfull land snakes. The two poisonous land snakes are the poskok and the sarka, borh members of the viper family. They are about as dangerous as an English Adder, in other words they will aviod you if they can although it is very unpleasant to get bitten, unless you are very young or very frail you have a day of two's grace to get the serum.

Birds

The variety of terrain and climate in Montenegro means that despite its small size, it is home to an astonishingly large variety of birds. There are five main areas for birdwatching:

The Coast, especially the Ulcinj Saltpans, attracts waders, cormorants, and pelicans though as there is a commercial salt extraction operation here you will need permision to go in. This should be a formality.

Sasko Lake, also good for waterbirds, is a small freshwater lake bear Ulcinj, although acces is a bit tricky and you will need to rent a boat from a local fisherman; do so, and you will be rewarded with sightings of many different species swamp birds, as well as a heron colony. Tivat has a small salt pan and the Canj Wetland near Budva has an area of marsh.

Skadar Lake National Park is an ornithologist's dream, especially in the breeding season, but leave the border area with Albania to the smugglers. The best starting point by boat is Virpazar, from where there are several possible birding tours. Eagles, ibis, herons, warblers, ducks, pelicans, owls, and buntings are among the 270 recorded species in the lake area. The commonly qouted figure for wintering flocks is 200.000 birds.

Biogradska Gora National Park is virgin decidous-conifer forest, such as hardly exist in Europe anymore, with a profusion of forest birds. On a good one-day walk through the forrest and around the lake you may be lucky enough to spot eagles, owls, woodpeckers, thrushes, larks, nightingales, tits, buntings, partridges etc.

Durmitor National Park has mountains rising to 2.522m and a lot of thick coniferous forest. Not quite as remote or as undeveloped as Biogradska but a bit more mountainous, it claims 163 different species of birds.

DECLARATION ON THE ECOLOGICAL STATE OF MONTENEGRO

We, members of the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro, are aware that, in vieuw of the threat to nature, protection of the identity of the land in which we live and work has become our most immediate and pressing task.
Bearing in mind our debt to nature, a source of health and our inspiration for freedom and culture, we are devoting ourselves to its protection for the sake of our survival and the future of our prosterity. We recognize that all our differences are less important than the changes in the environment we live in. Regardless of our national, religous, political and other sentiments and convictions we are fully aware that dignity and blessedness of a human being are intrinsically connected with blessedness and purity of nature.
Man and creation in him and around him are one in their depths, their meaning and denotation.
Thus the abuse of man has always entailed the abuse of nature. And beeing commited to the struggle for the dignity of man, we are also called upon to struggle for the dignity of nature.
By adopting the Declaration, Montenegro defines its attitude towards nature as a state policy and calls upon all the people to show wisdom and prevent an impending ecological catastrophe.

This declaration was made at Zabljak on September 10 1991