The most northerly protected area of Slovakia - Horna Orava was under legal protection in 1979, with the Babia Góra nature reserve protected since 1926, thus being one of the oldest reserves in Slovakia. Nearly half of the area is made up of forests - consisting mainly of beech, fir and monoculture spruce. The exceptions are Babia Góra (with its highest peak, Diablak), Pilsko and Paráč, where we find spruce forests with an admixture of rowan. Due to the occurrence of numerous peat bogs, there are numerous reptile and amphibian habitats, including salamander.