Flora and fauna

The feeling of travelling "across the sea, but really through the forest" as he approached the island of Mljet by boat was one the Dubrovnik poet Ignjat Dordic already had in the 18th century - and in the 12th century too this effect will have been easy to follow, for from the mountain peaks to the coastal strips there is hardly a spot in the national park that is not overgrown with pines, holm oaks, strawberry trees and many further growths. But besides the trees, which before 1960 were readily used as building and fire material (holm oak), for dyeing the fishing nets (mastic shrub), as a basis for schnapps and jam (strawberry tree) and for many further purposes, and which are therefore only sparsely present at full height any more, it is the maquis in particular that is a reason for every botany fan to travel to Mljet: nowhere in the whole Mediterranean area does this Mediterranean scrub forest grow as densely and luxuriantly as here. Creepers grow through and thicken the bushes and small shoots; evergreen plants such as mock privet, tree heath, mastic shrub, broad-leaved phillyrea and carob tree belong to it. They make the maquis so impenetrable and so characteristic of this region. In between there are again and again large areas of the most beautiful pine forest, and in both plant collections correspondingly different animal species find their optimal home, and the scent of the blossoms and of the essential oils of the plants floats above Mljet and lends it a quite special atmosphere.

Not only walkers and divers are surprised again and again by the wealth of species of the Mljet National Park - even researchers are by no means acquainted with all the animal species native here. What is certain is that particularly many colourful lizards live in the karst rocks, among them the sharp-snouted rock lizard, the green lizard and of course the Dalmatian wall lizard. Formerly there were also relatively many snakes on Mljet - so many that in 1909 the population released a few mongooses in order to put an end to the plague. Correspondingly rare are these reptiles today - and correspondingly well fed the mongooses. Besides the snakes, ground-nesting birds also belong to its favourite dishes, but today the balance between these Asian predators and their prey holds so stable that the park administration leaves the population to its natural development. As further mammals, Mljet is home above all to the broad-toothed rock mouse, hedgehog, edible dormouse, marten, hare and bat as well as fallow deer and wild boar. With the birds a description turns out to be more difficult, since many migratory birds stay on Mljet only temporarily. Anyone travelling here in a mild winter will find the forest inhabited and filled with the sound of thrushes, warblers, tits and many other songbirds; on the coasts and at the freshwater spots marsh birds such as wild ducks, herons and snipe have settled, and in the higher regions one can observe falcons, eagle owls and numerous species of dove. Anyone still curious about further creatures after all these animals simply plunges into the sea with snorkelling or diving equipment and lies in wait - it should not take long before colourful, shimmering fish, filigree water plants, sensitive crustaceans, elegant jellyfish and perhaps even one or another monk seal are discovered. The last of these, however, are found exclusively on the seaward side of the island - and even then only with a little luck!