Gornji kal

The pilot area is located in the southern part of Bela krajina and includes three Karst ponds with fields, meadows, orchards and forests located in between. Going from west to east they are Krivača and Gornji kal, while Kršeljevec, located in the easternmost part of the area, is currently dry and overgrown. In the past each village in Bela krajina had several such ponds, which were mostly used for feeding livestock and doing the laundry, while nowadays their primary function is nature protection. Both currently active ponds (Gornji Kal and Krivača) represent an important breeding area for European pond turtles and amphibians and an important habitat for the greater spearwort. In the project we will restore and improve the hydrological conditions of the channels and clear away the excess overgrowth. We will remove the invasive alien fish species (catfish) from Gornji kal. Through awareness raising campaigns of all stakeholders we will contribute to conservation of this area’s biodiversity.