Blatačko Lake


Blatačko Lake is a natural lake 21 kilometers to the north-east of Konjic, in Konjic municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The lake is a central feature of the natural & cultural-historical ensemble - cultural landscape - designated as National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Location and description

The lake is located in close proximity to Blace village on a karstic plateau of the Bjelašnica mountain, on the very edge of the Rakitnica canyon practically hanging over it at 1,156 meters a.s.l. It is of rectangular shape, around 500 m long and 140 m wide. During the summer months it is up to 2 meters deep.

National monument

Natural position of the lake itself and surrounding space's rich cultural-historical heritage, with prehistoric grave mounds, medieval necropolises with stećak and nišani tombstones in and around the village of Blace, forming one combined cultural landscape with part of the deep Rakitnica canyon, is designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Cultural-historical heritage

The protected perimeter of the monument consists of number of important sites:
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 of the Tušilačka river and Rakitnica consists exclusively of salmonids.
Reptiles include the globally endangered meadow viper, Vipera ursini macrops, classified as endangered by IUCN, 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 consist 127 recorded species of butterflies and moths and 29 of grasshoppers. There is also no fewer than 24 species recorded as endangered in Europe.
Invertebrates classed as threatened in Europe, present in the Igman-Bjelašnica-Treskavica-Visočica area :
Birds include some 110 species, along with birds of prey such as the golden eagle and the short-toed snake eagle, the peregrine falcon, the common kestrel, the goshawk, the Eurasian sparrowhawk and the Levant sparrowhawk. One species on the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the globally vulnerable corn crake, is found in the area.
Mammals and larger mammals are: chamois, brown bear, the gray wolf, the roe deer, wild boar, pine marten, which is already becoming much rarer, stoat, wild cat, lynx, and other 60 or more species.