Vlčia Private Nature Reserve
The Vlčia private nature reserve covers an area of 21.24 ha and is located in the Prešov region in the Čergov Mountains, in the cadastre of the village of Olejníkov in the source area of the Ľutinka River. Originally, the forest belonged to a private owner, from whom WOLF purchased the forest. The amount needed to purchase the forest - 3.2 million crowns - was raised through the Buy Your Own Tree collection among citizens from 19 countries around the world. WOLF has been the owner of the forest since 1998 and since then there has been no interference in this forest: no timber is harvested, no trees are planted, no dead trunks are pulled out and no hunting is allowed in the forest. The forest is located at the end of the Jarabinčík Valley in the micro-basin of the Ľutinka River, the geological base is Paleogene flysch. In the lower parts of the forest, fir-beech forest predominates, on the slopes below the ridge, beech-sycamore forest and at the end, beech-sycamore forest of limited growth. The dominant tree species are beech, mountain maple and fir, mixed with milk maple, elm, birch, rare Silesian willow and in the sub-ridge part, bird rowan is also found. The total number of trees with a diameter greater than 70 mm is exactly 11 548 according to the expert's measurement. In addition to the typical companions of beech, the perennial moonflower, yellow moorhen, perennial moorhen, stinking nettle and four species of ferns can be found in the herbaceous undergrowth. Among the protected plant species, the golden-headed lily occurs here, among the endangered ones, the elder orchid, and the alpine milkweed, Lobel's white sneezeweed and snake garlic adorn the slopes below the ridge.
Among the birds in Vlčia, you can see and hear the wood chaffinch, the nightingale, the robin, the black and the fawn, the black-headed warbler, the woodcock, the chirping and singing hummingbirds, and cavity nesters: the wood nuthatch, the white-necked flycatcher, the black woodpecker, and other woodpeckers and tits. There are four species of owls here: the long-tailed owl, the tawny owl, the little owl, and the little owl. The golden eagle and the short-eared eagle fly over the meadow, which belongs to the reserve. Of the ungulates, deer and wild boar are common, and of the carnivores, wolves, lynxes, and one bear move around the area.
In order to guarantee the territory formal protection under the Nature Conservation Act, we drafted and submitted a proposal to the Prešov Regional Office in 1999 to declare the Vlčia Private Nature Reserve. After endless harassment by the Environmental Department, the proposal was approved only with the participation of our legal representative, and in April 2002 an agreement on declaring the reserve was prepared, which, however, the then head of the Prešov Regional Office, Ing. Polačko, did not sign even after repeated requests, thus blocking the entire declaration process. In cooperation with a team of lawyers, we therefore prepared a series of measures, which resulted in the filing of a lawsuit at the Prešov Regional Court in March 2003. In the lawsuit, we requested that the Prešov Regional Office end the delays and sign an agreement with us on declaring the reserve. The Regional Court ruled on October 17, 2003 in favor of WOLF and obliged the Regional Office in Prešov to sign an agreement with us - under the threat of repeated fines of hundreds of thousands of shillings. Since the public administration reform subsequently took place, the newly created Regional Office for the Environment in Prešov inherited the entire case. Its head, Ing. Vočko, in accordance with the court's resolution, signed an agreement on the declaration of the Vlčia private nature reserve and, after final comments to the Ministry of the Environment, also a generally binding decree. The decree was published in the Government Gazette with the effective date of April 1, 2004. This means that after almost five years and exactly 1,722 days, we have finally seen the state allow us to protect the forest according to the law, which we - the citizens - have been voluntarily protecting since 1997. We would like to thank all members of WOLF and other numerous benefactors who have selflessly helped us in this.
The Buy Your Own Tree collection to expand the reserve continues.
Photo gallery of the Vlčia reserve
Are you wondering what to give your friends or family?
Do you want to give something beautiful and unusual for a birthday, name day, wedding or just out of love? If so, you can join those who are trying to save a piece of wilderness in eastern Slovakia by symbolically buying trees. One such tree costs €50.00 and the buyer contributes this amount to the expansion of the Vlčia private nature reserve.