Canyon of the Cvrcka River Declared a Nature Monument (Revised)

The Government of the Republic of Srpska, at its session held yesterday, November 6th, adopted the Decision on the declaration of the protected area Nature Monument “Cvrcka”, located in the municipality of Kneževo.

The initiative to protect the canyon of the Cvrcka River was launched by the Mountaineering Association “Vilenska Vrela” from Kneževo back in 2020.

The primary value of the protected area Nature Monument “Cvrcka” is the river of the same name. Of particular note within the protected area is the Vilenska Vrela waterfall on the tufa section of the Cvrcka’s right tributary, with a height of 60 to 70 meters. Several caves have been identified within the protected area, including Vilenska Cave, Kapnica, Mišarica, and Kerezovača, which are generally smaller in size and feature simple speleomorphology.

During the research, 334 plant species were registered, along with 74 species of diurnal and 44 species of nocturnal butterflies, and 73 bird species, many of which are rare and endangered.

The Decision envisages Level II and Level III protection.