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National
park "Kornati"
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 In
the central part of croatian Adriatic Sea, about 15 Nm to the
west from Sibenik town, 7 Nm to the southwest from Murter, or
15 Nm to the south from Zadar town, there is amazing group of
islands, islets and reefs (about 150 in total) named Kornati
archipelago. Beauty and singularity of the archipelago moved
authorities in 1980 to proclaim a bigger part of that area national
park. Since then certain modifications of its borders were made,
so that nowadays Kornati National Park occupies the area of
about 220 km2 (54.000 acres). There are 89 islands, islets and
reefs within the area of Kornati National Park, what makes it
the most indented group of islands in the Mediterranean. The
land part of Kornati National Park covers less than 1/4 of its
total area, but the values of its landscapes, the "crowns"
(cliffs) on the islands facing the open sea, and interesting
relief structures, make this part of Kornati National Park unique.
Besides, the Kornati submarine area, whose biocenosis are considered
to be the richest in the Adriatic Sea, and also the magnificent
geomorphology of the sea bed attracts divers from all over Europe
to come a
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| How
to reach Kornati National Park
 The
park can be reached by any sea-going vessel, either your own
boat or using the transport service of some local boatman or
touristic agency in Murter or some other place on the Adriatic
coast. Information about boatmen and tourist agencies which
have permission for doing business within the park area, can
be obtained in Kornati National Park Office. in Murter.
Location of the park is seven nautical miles from Murter and
approximately 15 nautical miles from Sibenik or Zadar (North
Dalmatia).
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| Visitor
activities
Cruising, sailing, sport-recreational fishing,
scuba diving, snorkeling, swiming, hiking, wildlife watching.
Natural
heritage in Kornati National Park
The reasons for proclamation
of Kornati National Park were numerous. Before all, it should
be mentioned that "Kornati" islands are the most indented
group of islands in the Mediterranean. Numerous bigger or smaller
islands, scattered about the sea, leave an impression of a sea
labyrinth on the land or a land labyrinth in the sea.
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VEGETATION
Vegetation gives a special
charm to the islands. More than 80 % of the land surface of
Kornati National Park is covered by scarce and low Mediterranean
vegetation. Dominating species are great sage, feather grass
and false brome grass. On some particular islands there are
degraded holm-oak tree forest. Few rare pine trees only intensify
the atmosphere of bareness. Local inhabitants use few small
karst fields to cultivate olives, figs, grapes, cherries, etc.
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GEOLOGICAL
STRUCTURE
 Geological
structure of these islands is therefore completely uncovered.
Every bed, fault or fold leaves a deep trace in the memory of
every visitor. Lithologically, the Kornati islands are almost
completely made up of carbonate rocks, predominantly of limestone
(dolomite occurs only occasionally). Thin patches of res soil,
made up by gradual wearing of surrounding carbonate rocks, can
be found only in the few small karst fields. One of the basic
phenomena of Kornati National Park are impressive "crowns"
(as local inhabitants name it) or steep slopes on the southwestern
edges of the outer islands facing the open sea. In the literature
related to Kornati National Park, these steep slopes are often
mistermed as "cliffs". The height of these "crowns"
goes more than 80 meters up from sea level, since its submarine
part goes almost as much down into the sea depth. The "crowns"
are the result of tectonic movements along big fault zone stretching
from Istria to middalmatian islands.
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MARINE WORLD
 The
magnificent and diverse submarine plant and animal life surrounding
these "crowns" and of course the rest of sea area
of Kornati National Park is also one of the basic phenomena
of this national park. Numerous holes, clefts, vaults, caves
and submarine meadows offer shelter to such a variety of sea
organisms.
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| LAND
ANIMALS
The land area of the park
is rather poor in animal species. Beside some species of butterflies,
centipedes, spiders, scorpions and snails, we can also find
frogs, lizards, snakes, pond-terrapins, bats, rats, mice, hares
and voles. There is also the only carnivore in the land area
of Kornati National Park - stone marten. The most frequent bird
species in this area are sea shags and gulls, but occasionaly
the lanner and kestrel visit these islands. From time to time
we can also see the raven, crow, house sparrow, crested lark,
european blackbird, wren, eagle owl, swift, the alpine swift,
rock dove, common tern, etc.
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Kukljica
tourist board 23271 b.b.
tel : 023 373 276 , fax : 023 373 229
e-
mail : kukljica@ugljan-pasman.com
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