NAME AND TYPE OF PROTECTED NATURAL AREA
Outstanding Natural Landscape "Kosmaj"
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category III – protected area categorized as important
AREA
3514,50 hа
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree II and III
MUNICIPALITY
Belgrade
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
Without legal protection prior to 2004
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decision on the Protection of "Kosmaj" Natural Resource, No. 501-890/05-XIII-01 (Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade, No. 29 – 36)
MANAGING ENTITY
PE "Srbijašume"
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
The Kosmaj area is located some 50 kilometers south of Belgrade, in its administrative area. Kosmaj and its wider surroundings represent an area of particular cultural and historical importance, including a large number of protected cultural assets, recorded monuments and important sites. In the protected area the cultural and historical values of the following monasteries are prominent: Kastaljan, Pavlovac and Tresije. Specific geological composition of the terrain (Neogene sands and clays, marls, limestones, breccias, sandstones and serpentinites), at an altitude of up to 630 m have significantly influenced the floristic and vegetation diversity of Kosmaj.
The area also has an unexpectedly high level of biodiversity, that is, a rich wildlife fund with numerous representatives classified as natural rarities, endangered, relict and endemic species.
The area is located in a zone of temperate continental climate and is rich in meadow-grass and shrubby vegetation. Forest vegetation occupies about 10% of the area, where mostly oak, hornbeam and beech forests occur in the form of rather small complexes, woodlands and alleys. Larger complexes are located only on the Kosmaj massif, and in the Guberevac forest area. Most of the area belongs to the lowland and mountainous height zones. Areas under crops of different composition are represented by over 60%. The largest forest area is grown with beech (24.1%), while the area without forest vegetation measures 26.93 ha or 4.1%. In the lower parts of the Kosmaj massif and in the foothill there are herbaceous vegetation types characterized by xeromesophyllic pastures and xerophyllic hill meadows best developed in the Košutica area.
Although relatively low mountain, Kosmaj is characterized by the presence of some plant species that are rare and endangered in the territory of Serbia and the vegetation cover on Kosmaj is represented primarily by forest vegetation. At lower altitudes (250-400 m), a belt of Quercetum frainetto-cerris Rudski forest has been developed, whereas above 400 m there is a forest belt of Querco-Carpinetum serbicum. On the peaks of Veliki and Mali Kosmaj (500-626 m) occurs beech forest Fagetum montanum, which in some parts (Suvi do) descends to the belt below 300 m of altitude.
In terms of mammal fauna, the Kosmaj area belongs to the zone of potentially moderately high diversity of mammal fauna, with 34 species registered so far. There is a high percentage of mammal fauna enlisted on the preliminary Red List of Vertebrates of Serbia (64.71%). The relatively small number of species registered so far is probably due to the lack of thorough research on mammal fauna in Kosmaj and the wider area.
Outstanding Natural Landscape "Kosmaj"
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category III – protected area categorized as important
AREA
3514,50 hа
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree II and III
MUNICIPALITY
Belgrade
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
Without legal protection prior to 2004
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decision on the Protection of "Kosmaj" Natural Resource, No. 501-890/05-XIII-01 (Official Gazette of the City of Belgrade, No. 29 – 36)
MANAGING ENTITY
PE "Srbijašume"
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
The Kosmaj area is located some 50 kilometers south of Belgrade, in its administrative area. Kosmaj and its wider surroundings represent an area of particular cultural and historical importance, including a large number of protected cultural assets, recorded monuments and important sites. In the protected area the cultural and historical values of the following monasteries are prominent: Kastaljan, Pavlovac and Tresije. Specific geological composition of the terrain (Neogene sands and clays, marls, limestones, breccias, sandstones and serpentinites), at an altitude of up to 630 m have significantly influenced the floristic and vegetation diversity of Kosmaj.
The area also has an unexpectedly high level of biodiversity, that is, a rich wildlife fund with numerous representatives classified as natural rarities, endangered, relict and endemic species.
The area is located in a zone of temperate continental climate and is rich in meadow-grass and shrubby vegetation. Forest vegetation occupies about 10% of the area, where mostly oak, hornbeam and beech forests occur in the form of rather small complexes, woodlands and alleys. Larger complexes are located only on the Kosmaj massif, and in the Guberevac forest area. Most of the area belongs to the lowland and mountainous height zones. Areas under crops of different composition are represented by over 60%. The largest forest area is grown with beech (24.1%), while the area without forest vegetation measures 26.93 ha or 4.1%. In the lower parts of the Kosmaj massif and in the foothill there are herbaceous vegetation types characterized by xeromesophyllic pastures and xerophyllic hill meadows best developed in the Košutica area.
Although relatively low mountain, Kosmaj is characterized by the presence of some plant species that are rare and endangered in the territory of Serbia and the vegetation cover on Kosmaj is represented primarily by forest vegetation. At lower altitudes (250-400 m), a belt of Quercetum frainetto-cerris Rudski forest has been developed, whereas above 400 m there is a forest belt of Querco-Carpinetum serbicum. On the peaks of Veliki and Mali Kosmaj (500-626 m) occurs beech forest Fagetum montanum, which in some parts (Suvi do) descends to the belt below 300 m of altitude.
In terms of mammal fauna, the Kosmaj area belongs to the zone of potentially moderately high diversity of mammal fauna, with 34 species registered so far. There is a high percentage of mammal fauna enlisted on the preliminary Red List of Vertebrates of Serbia (64.71%). The relatively small number of species registered so far is probably due to the lack of thorough research on mammal fauna in Kosmaj and the wider area.
