Deep in the mountains of southeast Bosnia lies Europe’s most pristine ancient forest – part of the primeval woodland that once covered much of the continent.
Stretching across the slopes of a canyon for more than five square miles, Perucica is a magical place, said Nick Hunt in The Guardian, and so strictly protected that all visitors must be accompanied by qualified local guides.
It is often compared with the larger, lowland forest of Białowieza, which straddles Poland and Belarus and dates back to the end of the last ice age, nearly 12,000 years ago. But Perucica is believed to be 8,000 years older than that. Having escaped the worst of the freeze, it is thought to have acted as a “refugium” for many species. It is also better preserved from human intervention, owing to its precipitous setting.
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Perucica forms a part of the Sutjeska National Park, a mountain reserve in Republika Srpska, the autonomous Serb-majority region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Towering above the trees is the pale summit of Maglic – Bosnia’s highest peak, at 2,386m – and deep among them is a 75m-high waterfall, Skakavac, forever “thundering into a mist of spray”. I stayed in the nearby village of Tjentiste, and my guide – Dejan Elez – led me into the forest from a “rocky” ridge above it, down a “winding” trail through groves of beech, fir, spruce, pine and maple. The trees grew ever taller and the undergrowth more “tangled” as we descended. Lichen, moss and fungus dripped from the branches, and deadwood lay everywhere – “paradoxically, a sign of health”. Perucica’s biodiversity is “astonishing”: it is home to 170 kinds of tree and shrub, and more than 1,000 other plant species.
As we walked, Elez pointed out the tracks of animals, as well as their scratch marks and scat. The forest is home to wolves, lynx, chamois, roe deer and brown bears. Some of these are highly elusive, but bear sightings are possible, especially in May, June, September and October, when the animals are at their most active.
For guided walks, see outdoorbosnia.com and wildbalkantrails.com
