Established by Decree of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic No. 97/1981 Coll. of 12 August 1981, as amended by Act of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 287/1994 Coll., as amended by Decree of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic No. 431/2001 Coll. of 3 September 2004.
Address:
Správa CHKO Poľana
(Administration of the Poľana PLA)
ul. J. M. Hurbana 20
960 01 Zvolen
Web:
https://chkopolana.sopsr.sk/
Tel.:
045 533 48 34
Area of operation: the Protected Landscape Area, the districts of Banská Bystrica and Brezno outside the cadastral area of the municipality of Telgárt, Detva and Zvolen
Poľana is our highest volcanic mountain range. Volcanic activity created a massive volcano with a diameter of 20 km within its territory, making it one of the largest extinct volcanoes in Europe.
The stratovolcanic structure is characterised by an alternation of resistant andesite sheets and flows with layers of less resistant tuffs and tuffites. In the central part of the area, erosion and denudation processes have preserved a typical bowl-shaped depression – a caldera. The remnants of andesitic lava flows that have withstood weathering processes serve as educational sites, and many of them have been designated as small-scale protected areas. These include Kalamárka, Melichova skala rock and the Bystré waterfall. Agglomerate remains are represented by the Bátovský balvan boulder, Jánošíkova skala rock and Veporské skalky. The area features a unique network of streams, which is unrivalled anywhere else in Slovakia.
A distinctive feature of the protected landscape area is the spruce forest on the summit of Zadná Poľana, situated on the southernmost edge of the original range in the Western Carpathians on an andesite bedrock.
The area is home to a mix of thermophilic and alpine species of plants and animals. Protected plant species found here include the Hungarian soldanella, the European yellow-headed orchid, the fir-leaved sedge, the wreath-leaved cuckoo flower, the round-leaved sundew, the Siberian iris and many endangered species from the orchid family.
Among the bird species found in the area are, for example, the lesser spotted eagle, the eagle owl, the Eurasian scops owl, the white-backed woodpecker, the ring ouzel; the raven is widespread, and the black stork is also found here. The Podpoľanie region is characterised by an abundance of the Eurasian roller. Permanent residents of the area include the bear, the wolf and the lynx.
Owing to its exceptional qualities in terms of hunting, the central and southern parts of the protected landscape area have been designated as a protected hunting area for red deer. Since 1990, the area has been a UNESCO biosphere reserve.