Paklenica

Paklenica National Park was established in 1949 in the southern sector of the Velebit, Croatia's largest mountain range, and protects some 95 km². It was one of the country's first national parks.

Its defining feature is the canyons of Velika and Mala Paklenica, two gorges cut vertically into the southern flanks of the Velebit, which here opens to the sea and allows sea air and mountain air to mix. The walls of Velika Paklenica, several hundred metres high, are one of the most important climbing destinations in south-eastern Europe. The park also holds 115 catalogued caves, of which Manita peć is the only one open to guided visits, as it has been since 1937.

On 7 July 2017, at the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee held in Kraków, the beech forests of Suva draga-Klimenta and Oglavinovac-Javornik, covering 2,031.87 hectares, were inscribed on the World Heritage List within the serial property of the ancient and primeval beech forests of Europe. These forests are unique in growing under the influence of three climate types — Mediterranean, continental and alpine — and constitute the largest and oldest beech-dominated complex on the eastern Adriatic coast. The Velebit has also been part of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves since February 1978.