NAME AND TYPE OF PROTECTED NATURAL AREA
Outstanding Natural Landscape "Dolina Pčinje" (Pčinja river valley)
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category ΙΙ - protected area of regional, that is, of great importance
AREA
The area of the Outstanding Natural Landscape "Dolina Pčinje" is 2606 ha, of which 55 ha are owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church, 1269 ha are state-owned and 1282 ha are private property.
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree ΙΙ
MUNICIPALITY
Bujanovac (cadastre municipalities of Jablanica, Starac and Vogance)
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
"Decision on the Designation of the Prohor Pčinjski Monastery as a Cultural Property - Cultural Monument and the Protection of its Natural Surrounding" (Municipal Assembly of Bujanovac, July 10th, 1989)
Protection of the Pčinja valley with the monastery of St. Prohor Pčinjski has been done on several occasions. First, the Republic Institute for Nature Conservation, which is nowadays Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, issued two documents relating to the area of the immediate surroundings of the monastery. Those were: "Prohor Pčinjski - Natural area surrounding the Immovable Cultural Property" from 1984 and "Prohor Pčinjski, Plan for the Protection of Natural Values" from 1986. Based on these documents and field research, in 1993 a study was drafted on the Proposal for the Protection of the Natural Resource - Landscape of Outstanding Features "Prohor Pčinjski", which served as the expert basis for the adoption of the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Outstanding Features "Pčinja river valley", and the Decree on the amendments to the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley", Official Gazette of RS, No. 55/1996 and 2/2003, the legal acts in force).
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 55/1996)
Decree on the amendments to the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 2/2003)
MANAGING ENTITY
Serbian Orthodox Church – Vranje Eparchy
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
The Pčinja river valley is located in southeastern Serbia. It includes the foothills of Kozjak and Starac mountains, and the Pčinja river valley that separates the two massifs. The protected area is the most characteristic part of the region dominated by valuable natural characteristics. One of them is the stream of the river Pčinja, which through the developed relief has formed a stream of both canyon and plain type between mountain Kozjak and mountain Starac on the opposite side, in the background of which there is Rujan mountain. The river Pčinja, with its gorges and meanders, attracts special attention. This area is located on the border between continental and Mediterranean climate. It has features of both climate types and is characterized by a great diversity of the living world. On the one hand, there are the southern borders of the continental flora and fauna distribution, and on the other, the northern borders of habitats of the species that are a characteristic of the Mediterranean.
Polydominant thermophyllic forests and shrubs of pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens), Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto),hop hornbeam ( Carpinus orientalis), south European flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), cade juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna) and many other species are the most distributed in this area, among which tertiary relics stand out due to their abundance. The fauna is characterized by the presence of European copper skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii), ocellated skink (Chalcidis ocellatus), Caspian whipsnake (Coluber caspius), red-rumped swallow (Hirundo daurica), northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), Levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes) and many other species.
On the one hand, the unique and recognizable geomorphological characteristics, climate and orography, which conditioned the complex flora of transient character containing different flora elements, were formed in the contact zone of two different floristic regions. On the other, sociological and cultural features (cultural and historical heritage, archaic villages, the traditional way of life, etc.), through the evolutionary process of mutual interaction, have influenced this part of Serbia to the extent that it is
Outstanding Natural Landscape "Dolina Pčinje" (Pčinja river valley)
NATIONAL CATEGORY
Protection category ΙΙ - protected area of regional, that is, of great importance
AREA
The area of the Outstanding Natural Landscape "Dolina Pčinje" is 2606 ha, of which 55 ha are owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church, 1269 ha are state-owned and 1282 ha are private property.
PROTECTION REGIMES
Protection degree ΙΙ
MUNICIPALITY
Bujanovac (cadastre municipalities of Jablanica, Starac and Vogance)
LEGAL PROTECTION IN THE PAST
"Decision on the Designation of the Prohor Pčinjski Monastery as a Cultural Property - Cultural Monument and the Protection of its Natural Surrounding" (Municipal Assembly of Bujanovac, July 10th, 1989)
Protection of the Pčinja valley with the monastery of St. Prohor Pčinjski has been done on several occasions. First, the Republic Institute for Nature Conservation, which is nowadays Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, issued two documents relating to the area of the immediate surroundings of the monastery. Those were: "Prohor Pčinjski - Natural area surrounding the Immovable Cultural Property" from 1984 and "Prohor Pčinjski, Plan for the Protection of Natural Values" from 1986. Based on these documents and field research, in 1993 a study was drafted on the Proposal for the Protection of the Natural Resource - Landscape of Outstanding Features "Prohor Pčinjski", which served as the expert basis for the adoption of the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Outstanding Features "Pčinja river valley", and the Decree on the amendments to the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley", Official Gazette of RS, No. 55/1996 and 2/2003, the legal acts in force).
LEGAL ACT ON PROTECTION
Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 55/1996)
Decree on the amendments to the Decree on the Designation of the Landscape of Exceptional Features "Pčinja river valley" ("Official Gazette of RS", No. 2/2003)
MANAGING ENTITY
Serbian Orthodox Church – Vranje Eparchy
SHORT DESCRIPTION (THE MAIN NATURAL AND CREATED VALUES)
The Pčinja river valley is located in southeastern Serbia. It includes the foothills of Kozjak and Starac mountains, and the Pčinja river valley that separates the two massifs. The protected area is the most characteristic part of the region dominated by valuable natural characteristics. One of them is the stream of the river Pčinja, which through the developed relief has formed a stream of both canyon and plain type between mountain Kozjak and mountain Starac on the opposite side, in the background of which there is Rujan mountain. The river Pčinja, with its gorges and meanders, attracts special attention. This area is located on the border between continental and Mediterranean climate. It has features of both climate types and is characterized by a great diversity of the living world. On the one hand, there are the southern borders of the continental flora and fauna distribution, and on the other, the northern borders of habitats of the species that are a characteristic of the Mediterranean.
Polydominant thermophyllic forests and shrubs of pubescent oak (Quercus pubescens), Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), Hungarian oak (Quercus frainetto),hop hornbeam ( Carpinus orientalis), south European flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), cade juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus), Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna) and many other species are the most distributed in this area, among which tertiary relics stand out due to their abundance. The fauna is characterized by the presence of European copper skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii), ocellated skink (Chalcidis ocellatus), Caspian whipsnake (Coluber caspius), red-rumped swallow (Hirundo daurica), northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), Levant sparrowhawk (Accipiter brevipes) and many other species.
On the one hand, the unique and recognizable geomorphological characteristics, climate and orography, which conditioned the complex flora of transient character containing different flora elements, were formed in the contact zone of two different floristic regions. On the other, sociological and cultural features (cultural and historical heritage, archaic villages, the traditional way of life, etc.), through the evolutionary process of mutual interaction, have influenced this part of Serbia to the extent that it is
