Last Saturday marked the opening ceremony of the photo exhibition “Velebit – Wild Heart of Croatia” in the medieval coastal city of Senj. The purpose of the exhibition is to promote Velebit Mountains as a must visit nature travel destination, demonstrate the value of wild nature and wildlife and show the local community the opportunities arising from the development of a nature-based economy.

Rewilding Europe and the Forestry Faculty of the University of Zagreb have started a cooperation to enhance the conservation of wild nature, wildlife and wilderness in the Velebit Mountains in Croatia. This cooperation will focus on proclaiming the old-growth forest Ramino Korito as a special reserve and researching the ecology of brown bear to improve its protection.

“Mons Baebius” guesthouse is an authentically renovated house in the abandoned village of Štokić Pod in the Velebit rewilding area. However, it is much more than an ordinary holiday rental property.

I went for a walk along the old hiking trail towards Modrić. Walking along the periphery of the main pasture and into a part of the trail that was thick with wildflowers and grasses until I could no longer see the trail.

Malo Libinje is a rugged, stony part of the Velebit Mountains in Croatia, that borders the Paklenica National Park and overlooks the sea. It is also the home of the Knežević family. I was there to observe the behaviour of the Istrian Boškarin cattle that they received earlier this year through Rewilding Europe.  The Knežević family kindly and graciously accepted me as a guest from America.