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Goldhorn’s Kingdom in the
Julian Alps
by Marjeta Keršic-Svetel
Translated by Manja Maksimovic
"I cannot take leave of the Alps without some reference
to the Julians. … The small scale and fine sculpturing
of these limestone mountains combine with the extreme complexity
of the topography to make every excursion seem full of surprises.
… The country is full of folk-lore and tales of fairies.
… Higher up are beechwoods splashed with yellow of the
wild laburnum, and, still higher, dense cover of stone pines.
Unforgettable are the Christmas roses in June, the early flowers
pale pink, then white, then palest green. There are very many
chamois, and bears are extinct only within living memory. …
Most wonderful of all, rivers gush full-fledged from the limestone
cliffs of the mountain sides. From meadow to tiny glacier the
span of variety is greater than in the western Alps, and the
flowers are different. The smallness of the scale is an advantage;
the month's approach in the Himalaya is magically traversed
in a day."
(Tom Longstaff: This My Voyage, 1950)
This is how famous English traveller and explorer of mountains
worldwide, Dr. Thomas Longstaff, described the Julian Alps which,
in a letter to Julius Kugy, he proclaimed, for him, "the
most desirable of all mountains". In his short description
he summed up the main features of the mountains and valleys
which today belong to the Triglav National Park (TNP). We Slovenes,
have got used to the value of this environment to such a degree
that it is often taken for granted and that it needs to be seen
through the eyes of a foreigner to appreciate the true worth
of our national heritage. Longstaff frequented the Julian Alps
in the first decades of the 20th century. In the meantime, there
have been many changes in the Julians: new mountain huts have
been erected, ski resorts and new roads have been built; in
the valleys several new hotels have appeared, and the settlements
have grown – mainly due to the building of holiday homes
with no regards to the national park boundaries, so that they
have often emerged in places where they were not supposed to
be. A number of valley pastures have grown desolate in the process,
almost all humped grasslands have disappeared … while
a great many more people visit the mountains than they used
to in Longstaff’s time. But the key characteristics of
the Julian Alps, which so enchanted the world traveller, remain
to this day: a great variety of natural habitats and wildlife
in a small space, the beautiful mountainous landscape, areas
of untouched nature barely influenced by mankind, accompanied
by valleys and mountain regions moulded by man during his millennia
of careful and wise symbiosis with nature.
The natural as well as cultural heritage of the Julians is well
preserved, unlike that of some other Alpine regions where severe
intervention in tourism and intensive farming has utterly transformed
the original appearance of the Alpine landscape, impoverished
its animate and inanimate nature, and turned entire regions
into urbanised amusement parks. That ours is a case of extraordinary
heritage with significance not only for Slovenia but also on
an international scale has been acknowledged by several foreign
experts: the Julian Alps have been included in the UNESCO Man
and Biosphere programme (MAB), the Bohinj mountains meet the
criteria for the UNESCO World Heritage List, while Triglav National
Park has been awarded the European Diploma of Protected Areas.
The entire Julian Alps region is also very important for the
Natura 2000 network of European nature conservation sites.
Concern for Heritage
The awareness that the Julians carry extraordinary natural
significance is an old one – the only national park in
Slovenia has a venerable history. It probably is no coincidence
that in the valleys beneath Triglav, an old tale is still told
about the mountain goat with the horns of gold which used to
defend natural resources from human greed in the name of forces
of nature. First, it was the initiative of Albin Belar, then
the Museum Association issued a memorandum in 1920, which was
followed by the foundation of the first protected area in the
Valley of Triglav Lakes, and finally the park as we know it
today was established.
The law on Triglav National Park, which has been in existence
for more than twenty years, is obsolete and there is a dire
need for a new one – a bill is being discussed in Parliament
as we speak. It raises several dilemmas. How to protect valuable
natural, spiritual and cultural heritage of the Julian Alps
and ensure that the treasures will still be available to future
generations? Members of Parliament thus face a tremendously
demanding and responsible task – to adopt such legislation
as to ensure permanent preservation as well as research and
interpretation of all the treasures which abound in Goldhorn’s
kingdom.
If decades ago the opinion prevailed that only perfectly untouched
nature is in need of protection, today it is clear that the
civilised countryside in the Julians with its millennia-long
human influence on nature is no less valuable. The population
in the Julian Alps is changing, which makes it similar to the
rest of the Alps: one part of the autochthonous population is
leaving (especially the young), while new more or less permanent
residents are moving in from the cities, bringing with them
completely new values and life-styles (pensioners settle in
holiday homes, free-lancers choose to dwell in mountain villages
on account of the better quality of life closer to nature…).
The type of visitors to the park is changing, too. Mountaineering
is accompanied by numerous other free-time activities –
from paragliding, kayaking and mountain-biking to canyoning
and even such activities as hill-climbing motocross. Mountaineering
itself is going through some changes as well – it has
turned into a mass sport, there are a great many inexperienced
people climbing the mountains with no time to spare and a need
to drive their cars as near to the peak as possible. The valleys
and mountain roads are saturated with cars. Market demands have
dictated more intensive farming with meliorations and the use
of fertilisers and pharmaceuticals. Apart from all that, there
have been noticeable climate changes recently. Not only will
the TNP have to do without its Triglav glacier in the near future,
but the climate changes will also influence ski tourism and
the natural processes in the park, for instance the forest line.
The dynamics call for a careful definition of the values of
our only national park, an analysis of each potential danger,
and management which will assure permanent preservation of the
park’s treasures.
Mountains in general are extremely important as reservoirs of
drinking water, and this is why the Julian Alps are vital for
the bulk of Slovenia’s population. Anything that might
worsen the quality of the water flowing from the mountains will
have to be renounced – be it mountain hut waste water
or chemicals in artificial snow – so that the quality
of the water lower down is not jeopardised.
The most important task of a protected area is of course to
guarantee the preservation of the variety of species and their
habitats, paying particular attention to endangered or endemic
species. In the Triglav National Park area there is a variety
of habitats: from different kinds of forests to wetlands, from
meadows to subterranean caves, from lakes to rocky mountainsides.
Mountain pastures are an extremely important part of natural
and cultural heritage in the Julian Alps. It is not just biological
variety and the exterior of the landscape which need to be preserved,
but also abundant traditional practices derived from the observation
of nature and the symbiosis with it during the last several
hundred years. In the Julians there are two autochthonous breeds
linked with mountain pasturing: Bohinj cika cattle on the Gorenjska
side of the Julians, and Bovec sheep on the Primorska side.
There are also many species among wildlife and plants which
are endemic or endangered throughout Europe. The preservation
of this heritage will be an important, but also very demanding
task.
What Else Is There
One of the great treasures of the Julians is a well-preserved
mountain environment with minimal, or at least imperceptible,
human intervention. On one side there is a well-kept network
of marked and secured mountain routes which enable access to
this intact natural environment, and on the other there are
parts where the mountains are still very wild, without any marked
trails or beaten tracks, where apart from a few small bivouacs
there is no sign of human presence. Mountain wilderness is extremely
rare in Europe and certainly belongs among those valuables which
need to be carefully preserved.
The mountains are one of the few environments where modern man
can still come upon wilderness, silence, starry night sky, solitude,
real adventure, and where he can test himself face to face with
the forces of nature. The value of this aspect of mountain heritage
should by no means be reduced by tourist urbanisation wherever
it is felt necessary.
There are tendencies to relinquish some border areas of the
Triglav National Park – even the shores of Lake Bohinj
and the best preserved glacier valleys – to urbanisation
and the development of those branches of tourism which require
major intervention in the natural environment. There are more
than enough opportunities for that outside the park limits,
though, and the visitors to the valleys and the more accessible
regions of the TNP should be given the chance to enjoy nature
as well-preserved as possible.
The Julian Alps region is also rich in cultural heritage, not
only that of shepherd culture but there are also numerous archaeological
remains (some of which are probably yet to be discovered): old
transport trails, remains of ancient iron-smelting and charcoal-burning
activities, technical railway heritage, as well as building
and memorial heritage of World War I. Another important heritage
of the TNP is the legacy of Slovene mountaineering history.
It was closely linked to the history of science and the history
of the Slovene national movement, and to this day mountaineering
is much more than just a sport – it is a very important
element of Slovene life-style. The bulk of this heritage still
needs to be thoroughly studied, documented and recorded. Several
elements of this abundant cultural and spiritual heritage deserve
to be preserved and reconstructed as well as given a presentation
and interpretation. However, this will require a great amount
of expertise and resources.
The ancient tale of Goldhorn teaches us about well-being which
arises from sensible management of natural resources, and also
about the damnation of an avid and greedy attitude to nature.
Our national park is so special also on the grounds of its symbolic
meaning. This symbolic role has its source in the attitude of
all of us towards the park, inhabitants as well as visitors.
(Content abstracted from "Slovenija.svet June 2004"
published by
Slovenska
izseljenska matica.)
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