On the Sunny Side of the Alps: Slovenian Mountains and Their Perspectives

Abstract

Slovenia lies in the south-eastern part of the Alps. Most of the country is defined as a mountainous area. Because of the structure of mountainous areas in Slovenia, the sustainability is adapted in most of the state policy, legislatively and in practice, and there is almost no specific policy for mountainous areas. Therefore, Slovenia generally does not have many problems of adapting its legislation with the Alpine Convention. In most of the country there is a dispersed type of settlement, although more than a half of the state is covered with forests. Today Slovenia faces the challenge to keep the countryside cultivated and alive. Large protected areas are one kind of the state measures, while their aim is not only to protect the nature but also the landscape and to support the settlement of mountainous areas as well.