List of protected areas of Croatia

The main protected areas of Croatia are national parks, nature parks and strict reserves. There are 411 protected areas of Croatia, encompassing 9% of the country. Those include 8 national parks, 2 strict reserves and 13 nature parks. The most famous protected area and the oldest national park in Croatia is the Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Velebit Nature Park is a part of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. The strict and special reserves, as well as the national and nature parks, are managed and protected by the central government, while other protected areas are managed by counties. In 2005, the National Ecological Network was set up, as the first step in preparation of the EU accession and joining of the Natura 2000 network.^[1]

The total area of all national parks in the country is 930 km² (359 sq mi), of which 235 km² (91 sq mi) is sea surface. Each of the national parks is maintained by a separate institution, overseen and funded by the government ministry overseeing nature conservation. Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition provides centralized oversight, expertise and management of the Register of Protected Natural Values of Croatia, the work done in the past by the State Institute for Nature Protection.