Established by Decree No. 124/1979 Coll. of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic of 22 September 1979, as amended by Act No. 287/1994 Coll. of the National Council of the Slovak Republic.
Address:
Správa CHKO Štiavnické vrchy
(Administration of the Štiavnické vrchy PLA)
Kammerhofská 26
969 01 Banská Štiavnica
Web:
https//chkostiavnickevrchy.sopsr.sk
Tel.:
045 691 19 31
HOT LINE:
0910 158 739
Area of responsibility: the territory of the protected landscape area, the Krupina, Veľký Krtíš, Žarnovica and Žiar nad Hronom districts
Štiavnické vrchy mountains are the largest volcanic mountain range in the Western Carpathians. They lie at the boundary of two distinct climatic types, resulting in the horizontal and vertical intermingling of thermophilous elements of the flora and fauna with Carpathian montane elements.
The attractiveness of the area is enhanced by its historic water reservoirs, known as tajch. Their construction was necessitated by the development of mining in past centuries, and they served as sources of both power and utility water. Together with their feeder and supply channels and other water-management structures, they form a unique technical system.
Several rare and unique minerals occurring in Slovakia have been described from the exploited ore veins and vein offshoots. The local forests are also home to a large number of exotic tree species. This is associated with the establishment of the Department of Forestry in 1807, which later became part of the Mining and Forestry Academy, founded in 1764. A botanical garden was subsequently established as part of the academy, where tree species from various parts of the world were planted over an area of 3.5 hectares. Even greater diversity of exotic tree species can be found in the Kysihýbel Forestry Arboretum, which contains approximately 1,900 taxa. Covering an area of 7.7 hectares, it continues to cultivate exotic tree species for forestry purposes to this day.
Some thermophilous species spreading along valleys opening southwards reach their northern range limit here, including Hungarian oak and Tatarian maple. Elements of xerothermic flora occur on warm, sun-exposed andesite rocks with shallow, skeletal soils, including feather grass, crown pink, biting stonecrop, and others.
In some habitats, large-flowered pasque flower and varicoloured crocus can also be found. Further north, lingonberry, bilberry, and Magicova’s barren strawberry also occur.
The fauna is particularly rich in bird species, including the lesser spotted eagle, common buzzard, tawny owl, and numerous species of songbirds. The area is also home to rare carnivorous mammals, including the Eurasian lynx and European wildcat. Among the most conspicuous insect species are the butterflies Old World swallowtail and scarce swallowtail. The area is also home to the rare European mantis, as well as the European stag beetle and alpine longhorn beetle. Several species of bats have found shelter in abandoned mine workings, including the greater horseshoe bat, lesser horseshoe bat, greater mouse-eared bat, and common noctule, among others.