Tour 2 in Žabljak

Within activity “Tour natural heritage sites and collecting materials” in Zabljak, the students toured the planned sites of natural heritage in the area of ’ Mlinski potok’ in the period from 16.10. to 19.10. 2015. This area, covering 10 hectares, is the zone of spruce and fir rainforest and together with Rainforests “Crna Poda”, are the strictest protected. The trees in this area are over 300 years old.
During the tour of these sites the students had the opportunity to learn more about the protection zones in the park, the flora and fauna characteristic for this area, and also had the opportunity to hear many legends about this area.
In the National Park Durmitor there are 7 zones with a special regime of nature protection: the rainforest zone of the Black Pine- “Crna Poda”, the rainforest zone of fir and spruce in the basin of “Mlinski potok”, the zone –”Black lake” with forest; the basin of the Škrčka Lakes and the narrow valley “Susica”; ” Barno; Lake”; the narrow canyon valley of Tara and the narrowest environment of ” Zabojsko Lake”.
The first day of the tour the students visited the bottom of the basin “Mlinski potok” and Black Lake –the greatest glacial lake in Montenegro. Its appearance and panorama, that stretches to the coast, justifiably make it the most famous lake in the park. In addition to the exceptional beauty of the Lake basin and glittering surface of the lake, spacious forest around it and, in particular, the giant peak “Međed” with fantastic shapes and colours all togother to contribute its reputation. The lake is named after its colour, which varies from turquoise to black colour. There are many specific features of the lake, but some of them are natural. For example, “Čeline”, it is when the rocks break under the pressure of water and make a waterfall 25 meters high, this usually occurs in the spring, and the duration of this natural phenomenon depends on the snow cover of the previous winter. The another specificity is the bifurcation, as the lake, made of the two lakes, water flows in two opposite directions, in the Tara river and the Piva river.
The most typical representatives of fauna in this area are the birds like grouse, woodpecker, tit and some finches. At the lake there are several ornithological interest. It is a few pairs nesting of the wild ducks. Trout, watercress and Arctic char live in the waters of this region.
300 species of mushroom have been found in the National Park Durmitor so far, which is half of the total, found on the territory of Montenegro. In the park, there are a large number of species that are on the Red List of Europe, and with the status of species of international importance. In the vicinity of Black Lake is the habitat of the species Gyromitra macknightii Harmaja.
The second day of the tour the students visited the upper basin “Mlinski potok” and “Zminje lake”.
Along “Mlinski Potok “there used to be a large number of mills by it was named after, unfortunately, today the only one works.
Zminje lake is located at the spring of “Mlinski Potok “. It is hidden deep in the wood and silence, as it has purpose to resemble to the loneliness and thinking about her. The altitude of this lake is 1520 m and the maximum depth is 7.7 meters. Today, the view of the lake, and the overflow of the color of its water, give the viewer the obvious reason why that name is given to the lake because of the trees that are reflected on the water remind us of snakes.
What makes Zminje lake so specific is yellow water lily that floats on the surface of lakes and contributes to its extraordinary beauty. But that’s just one of the rare, protected species in this area. Besides the water lilies in the lake can be seen rarities such as the alpine newt or TRITON, amphibians, which represent postglacial relic, and which are protected as well as salamander which is known for numerous legends.
Along the basin of “Mlinski potok” the students had a chance to see the habitat of many plant endemic and endangered species like the blue gentian, yellow oxeye, violet, small bladderwort, bitter clover, orchids and others.
Since this area is dominated by coniferous forests- what specific about them is a large number of mushrooms, lichen and moss. In the basin of “Mlinski potok” there are 10 species of moss that can be found only at this site throughout Montenegro. The most famous among them are the mosses of the genus Sphagnum.
30 students (15 from Foca and 15 from Zabljak) with their teachers took part in this activity.
A lot of photos were taken and many videos were recorded, that were being processed later by the students in the school premises.
Within this tour it was planned to visit DEU office in Podgorica but it was postponed to be organized in May 2015.
The third day of their stay the students attended a lecture on “Endemic species in NP Durmitor-the site “Mlinski potok” which was held in the school premises JU SMS “17th September “.
A large number of students, from both sides of the border, expressed their desire to continue socializing and participating in future projects.