Blatačko Lake is a natural lake 21 kilometers to the north-east of Konjic, in

Konjic Konjic ( sr-Cyrl, Коњиц) is a List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, city located in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located in no ...

municipality,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. The lake is a central feature of the naturally, culturally and historically significant landscape designated as a

National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina The National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina include: *sites, places, immovable and movable heritage of historical and cultural importance, as designated by the Commission to preserve national monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the basis o ...

Location and description

Zimni prechod Bjelasnice3 - hrana kanonu Rakitnice

The lake is located in close proximity to

Blace Blace ( sr-cyr, Блаце, ) is a town and municipality located in the Toplica District of the southern Serbia. According to 2022 census, the population of the town is 4,865, while population of the municipality is 9,682. Settlements Aside fro ...

village (1,215 m) on a karstic plateau of the

Bjelašnica Bjelašnica ( sr-Cyrl, Бјелашница, ) is a mountain in the Dinaric Alps in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is to the southwest of Sarajevo, bordering Mount Igman. Bjelašnica's tallest peak, by which the mountain group got its name, r ...

mountain, on the very edge of the

Rakitnica Rakitnica may refer to: * Rakitnica (Neretva), a tributary of the Neretva river in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rakitnica, Trnovo, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina * Rakitnica, Ribnica, a village in Slovenia * Rakitnica, Demir Hisar, a village in No ...

canyon, practically hanging over it at 1,156 meters a.s.l. It is rectangular in shape, around 500 m long and 140 m wide. During the summer months it is up to 2 meters deep.

National monument

The natural position of the lake itself and the surrounding area has rich cultural and historical heritage, with prehistoric grave mounds and medieval necropolises with

stećak Stećak (plural stećci; Cyrillic стећак, стећци) is the name for monumental medieval tombstones, that lie scattered across Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the border parts of Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. An estimated 60,000 are found w ...

and nišani tombstones in and around the village of Blace. They form one combined cultural landscape with part of the deep Rakitnica canyon, and are designated as a

Cultural-historical heritage

The protected perimeter of the monument consists of number of important sites: *the Blatačko lake and its surrounding landscape with an area of 20 hectares including a part of the Rakitnica canyon, *4 prehistoric grave mounds and medieval necropolis consisting of 15 stećak tombstones at the location called "Kosan-krst", *prehistoric grave mound and medieval necropolis with 12 stećak tombstones at the location called "Viš-stijena", *prehistoric grave mound and medieval necropolis with 3 stećak tombstones at the location called "Babaluša", *medieval necropolis with 8 stećak tombstones at the location called "Kod Čekića", *prehistoric grave mound and 1 isolated medieval stećak at the location called "Komadinov Do", *medieval necropolis with 7 stećak tombstones within active Orthodox cemetery, *necropolis with 9 nišan tombstones since medieval times near "Komadinov Do".

Natural heritage

Species placed under the strict protection: Sesleria juncifolia, Sesleria coerulens, Festuca panciciana, Festuca bosniaca, Senecio bosniacus, Veronica satureoides, Gentiana dinarica, Gentiana symphyandra, Gentianella crispata, Endraianthus serpyllifolius, Saxifraga caryophylla, Minuartia clandestina, Silene pusilla, Alchemilla velebitica, Cerastium dinaricum. Endemic alpine meadow species: Sesleria juncifolia, Sesleria coerulens, Festuca panciciana, Festuca bosniaca, Senecio bosniacus, Veronica satureioides, Gentiana dinarica, Gentiana symphyandra, Gentianella crispata. Glacial relicts: Dryas octopetala, Polygonum viviparum, Gentiana kochiana, Nigritella nigra, Potentilla clusiana, Arnica montana, Jasione orbiculata, Achillea lingulata, Lilium bosniacum. High alpine flora of the alpine pastures, rocky terrain and Rakitnica canyon: Plants found in the glacial cirques of Bjelašnica belong to the endemic association ''Amphoricarpion autariati'' and communities in the limestone canyon of the Rakitnica and on dolomitic soils, with following species of distinctive flora: Edraianthus serpyllifolius, Saxifraga caryophylla, Minuartia clandestina, Silene pusilla, Alchemilla velebitica, Cerastium dinaricum. Species on limestone soils: Dripis linneana, Arabis alpina, Heracleum balcanicum, Stachys recta. The

ichthyofauna A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fish ...

of the Tušilačka river and Rakitnica consists exclusively of

salmonids Salmonidae (, ) is a family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon (both Atlantic a ...

Reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

include the globally endangered meadow

viper Vipers are snakes in the family Viperidae, found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long (relative to non-vipe ...

, ''Vipera ursini macrops'', classified as endangered by

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

, along with other vipers – ''V. berus bosniaca'', ''V. amodites'' – and other snakes including ''Coronella austriaca'', ''Coluber sp'', the legless lizard ''Anguis fragilis'', other lizard species – ''Lacerta vivipara'', ''L. viridis'', ''L. fragilis'', ''L. Muralis'' – and frogs ''Hyla arborea'' and ''Rana agilis''.

Invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

consist 127 recorded species of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

moths Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (suborder Rhopalocera) a ...

(''Lepidoptera'') and 29 of

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

(''Orthoptera''). There is also no fewer than 24 species recorded as endangered in Europe.

classed as threatened in Europe, present in the

Igman Igman ( sr-cyrl, Игман, ) is a mountain plateau in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Geologically, Igman is part of the Dinaric Alps and formed largely of secondary and tertiary sedimentary rock, mostly Limestone. It is located southwest of S ...

Treskavica Treskavica ( sr-cyrl, Трескавица) is a mountain range in Bosnia and Herzegovina, situated in Trnovo municipality just south of city of Sarajevo. Mala Ćaba (Đokin Toranj) peak at 2088 m (6850 ft.), which makes Treskavica the tallest ...

Visočica Visočica may refer to: * Visočica (hill), a hill in Bosnia and Herzegovina near Visoko * Visočica (mountain), a mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina near Konjic * Visočica (river) Visočica or Visochitsa () is a river that passes through eastern ...

area (also area proposed for ecological protection as

National park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

): *Threatened: ''Maculinea nausithous'' (

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

), ''Maculinea teleius'' (butterfly), ''Apatura metis'' (butterfly); *Vulnerable: ''Dolomedes plantarius'' (

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

), ''Saga pedo'' ( bush cricket), ''Hyles hippophaes'' (

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

); *Rare: ''Helix pomatia'' (

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

), ''Troglophantes gracilis'' (spider), ''Troglophantes similes'' (spider), ''Troglophantes spinipes'' (spider), ''Parnassius apollo'' (butterfly), ''Erebia ottomana'' (butterfly), ''Epimyrma ravouxi'' (

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

); *Insufficiently known: ''Microcondylae compressa'' (fresh water

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

), ''Unio elegantus'' (fresh water mussel), ''Hirudo medicinalis'' (

leech Leeches are segmented parasitism, parasitic or Predation, predatory worms that comprise the Class (biology), subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the Oligochaeta, oligochaetes, which include the earthwor ...

), ''Leucorrhinia pectoralis'' (

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

), ''Myrmeleon formicarius'' (

antlion The antlions are a group of about 2,000 species of insect in the neuropteran family (biology), family Myrmeleontidae. They are known for the predation, predatory habits of their larvae, which mostly dig pits to trap passing ants or other prey. ...

), ''Syrichtus tesselum'' (butterfly), ''Papilio alexanor'' (butterfly), ''Zerynthia polyxena'' (butterfly), ''Erebia calcari'' (butterfly). Birds include some 110 species, along with

birds of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

such as the

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') and the

short-toed snake eagle The short-toed snake eagle (''Circaetus gallicus''), also known as the short-toed eagle, is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as kites, buzzards and harriers. The genus n ...

(''Circaetus gallicus''), the

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

(''Falco peregrinus''), the

common kestrel The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus''), also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel or Old World kestrel, is a species of bird of prey, predatory bird belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family (biology), family Falconidae. ...

(''Falco tinninculus''), the

goshawk Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey in the family Accipitridae: Palearctic * Eurasian goshawk, ''Astur gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and ...

(''Accipiter gentilis''), the

Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred ...

(''Accipiter nisus'') and the

Levant sparrowhawk The Levant sparrowhawk (''Tachyspiza brevipes'') is a small bird of prey. It measures in length with a wingspan of . The female is larger than the male, but the difference is not as marked as with Eurasian sparrowhawk. The adult male is blue-gre ...

(''Accipiter brevipes''). One species on the 2006

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

, the globally vulnerable

corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff ...

(''Crex crex''), is found in the area.

Mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

and larger mammals are:

chamois The chamois (; ) (''Rupicapra rupicapra'') or Alpine chamois is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope native to the mountains in Southern Europe, from the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Dinarides, the Tatra Mountains, Tatra to the Carpa ...

(''Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica''),

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...

(''Ursus arctos''), the

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

(''Canis lupus''), the roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''),

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

(''Sus scrofa''),

pine marten The European pine marten (''Martes martes''), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and parts of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red Lis ...

(''Martes martes''), which is already becoming much rarer,

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

(''Mustela erminea''),

wild cat Felidae ( ) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit the greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestria ...

(''Felis silvestris''),

lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

(''Lynx lynx''), and other 60 or more species.

References

Lakes of Bosnia and Herzegovina National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina Upper Neretva Nature monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina {{HerzegovinaNeretvaCanton-geo-stub

Location and description

National monument

Cultural-historical heritage

Natural heritage

See also

References