Carpathians

Long ago, in the Ice Age, it was very cold. Beech trees survived in only a few safe places, like the Carpathians.

When the ice melted, the beech trees spread out across Europe.

During the last Ice Age, European beech trees survived only in a few separate refuges, including the Alps, the Carpathians, the Dinarides, the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees.

When the Ice Age ended, beech spread out from these places across a whole continent in just a few thousand years, and it is still spreading today. UNESCO protects old and untouched beech forests in 93 places across 18 countries.

UNESCO's serial property, Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe, now includes 93 component parts in 18 countries. Since the end of the last Ice Age, European beech has spread from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a few thousand years, a process that is still ongoing; UNESCO links this success to the tree's adaptability and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions.

The expanded property is an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, complex temperate forests, showing a wide range of ecological patterns in pure and mixed beech stands under varied conditions.

Brown bears, wolves and lynxes live in the Carpathian forests.

There are thousands of kinds of plants there too.

UNEP calls the Carpathians a biodiversity hotspot in Europe. The mountains have nearly 4,000 kinds of plants and the largest populations of large carnivores in Europe: lynxes, brown bears and wolves.

They also hold some of Europe's last remaining virgin forests, forests that people have hardly changed. In 2023 the Carpathian countries set up an inventory, a careful list, of these virgin forests to help protect them.

According to UNEP, the region harbors nearly 4,000 plant species, Europe's largest pristine forests, and the richest population of large carnivores on the continent, with the largest populations of lynxes, brown bears and wolves. Ministers at COP7 (2023) established an Inventory of Virgin Forests of the Carpathians, calling it a critical step towards protecting some of Europe's few remaining primary forests.

They also heard an assessment of climate-change risks for Carpathian forest ecosystems; UNEP's deputy director warned that climate change, nature loss and pollution together are putting new pressure on the region.

Many big rivers start high in the Carpathians.

Millions of people depend on these mountains.

The Carpathians are home to the headwaters of major rivers, the places where those rivers begin. UNEP says the mountains provide essential services to millions of people who live in and around them.

In 2023 Serbia and Romania created a shared protected wetland in the Đerdap gorge, also called the Iron Gate, along the Danube River.

UNEP notes that the Carpathians provide essential ecosystem services to millions of people in and beyond the region and are home to the headwaters of major rivers. At COP7, the environment ministers of Serbia and Romania established a transboundary Ramsar wetland in Đerdap (Iron Gate) National Park, along the Danube, spanning both sides of the river.

The Carpathian countries also recognized the need to tackle air, water and soil pollution, with a specific focus on plastic pollution in the region's watercourses.

Bears and wolves live in these mountains. Visitors stay on paths with a grown-up.

Everyone takes their trash home. Then plastic stays out of the streams.

The Carpathians are home to Europe's largest populations of brown bears, wolves and lynxes, so it makes sense to follow local park rules, stay on marked trails and keep a respectful distance from wildlife. That is PlayOwl's tip, built on UNEP's description.

The Carpathian countries are working to reduce plastic pollution in the region's streams and rivers. Visitors can help by carrying all their trash back out.

Because the region hosts the largest European populations of lynxes, brown bears and wolves (UNEP), PlayOwl recommends following each protected area's rules, staying on marked trails and keeping well away from wildlife.

The parties to the Carpathian Convention have singled out plastic pollution in the region's watercourses as a priority, so carrying all waste back out is a simple way for visitors to support that goal.