Poloniny

Poloniny National Park was established in 1997 at the eastern tip of Slovakia, where the borders with Poland and Ukraine meet, and protects some 298 km². It is the country's easternmost national park.

It preserves extensive primeval forests of beech and of beech with fir in the Bukovské Hills, and in them grow the tallest beeches in the world, with individuals reaching 58 metres. Close to 80% of the forest area lies over rounded ridges and waterlogged valleys. Its fungal richness is notable, with 1,207 catalogued fungus species, many of them severely threatened, and the territory holds the greatest concentration of bears and wolves in Slovakia.

In June 2007 the primeval forests of Stužica, Rožok and Havešová were inscribed on the World Heritage List alongside the Kyjov forest, in the Vihorlat Hills, and the Ukrainian primeval forests, in the original inscription of the serial property that would later be extended to some ten European countries. Poloniny also forms part of the East Carpathians Biosphere Reserve, defined by UNESCO's MAB programme in 1993, which together with the Polish and Ukrainian forests constitutes the first trilateral biosphere reserve in the world. The park also holds the Council of Europe's European Diploma.