Today's ceremony in Podsreda, where the institute running the park is seated, was addressed by Prime Minister Miro Cerar.

Along with the Triglav National Park, the Kozjansko Park is the oldest protected area in Slovenia. It is one of "Slovenia's pearls", Cerar said, thanking the locals for preserving it.

According to the head of the Kozjansko Park Institute, Teo Hrvoje Oršanič, the last 35 years were all about finding harmony between nature and people.

The Kozjansko Park breaks the stereotypes about restrictions that living in a protected area is said to entail and allows the region's development, including in business, although the underdeveloped regions are becoming increasingly interesting and praised nowadays, he said.

Cerar too highlighted the importance of nature conservation and praised the park's contribution to regional economic development, especially in tourism.

Noting that Slovenia's biodiversity is one of the richest in the world, the prime minister underlined the biodiversity of the Kozjansko Park.

The park was founded in 1981 as the Trebče Memorial Park only to be renamed to the Kozjansko Park in 1999. Most of the park's surface is included in the Natura 2000 protection area. It is also protected under the UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme.

Covering over 200 square kilometres and 78 settlements, inhabited by some 10,700 people, the park pursues the policy of sustainable and environmentally-friendly economic development.

The park traditionally holds the Festival of Kozjansko Apple and a festival of organic food. Oršanić also highlighted a plant-based waste-water treatment system, heating of the institute's building on local wood biomass and an organic trees shop among the main achievements.