Situated in the southeastern part of the Dinaric Alps, the Tara River Basin comprises carbonate plateaus, canyons and the deepest gorges in Europe. The Tara canyon is 80 km long and reaches 13,000 meters at its deepest point. In the biosphere reserve, the altitude ranges from 433 to 2,522 meters above sea level, thus it harbors a rich habitat and species diversity. Habitats include alpine forests, alpine rivers and lakes, alpine and subalpine heath, transition mires, bogs and screes. The biosphere reserve includes Durmitor National Park, which was designated as World Heritage site in 1980.

Nomination date: 1976
Surface Area: 182,889 ha
Administration division: Ministry of Environmental Protection Public Enterprise for National Parks, Public Forest Enterprise

About 23,800 people live within the biosphere reserve (1991) who are mostly engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and grazing. The area is also of cultural interest since it hosts numerous churches, monasteries and memorials.

Natural eutrophic lakes with Magnopotamion vegetation; alpine rivers; alpine and sub-alpine heathland; sub-Arctic willow scrub (Salicetum appendiculatae montenegr.); alpine calcareous grasslands with Oxytropis dinarica; mires and bogs; pioneer vegetation of rock surfaces; alpine forests with Pinus heldreichii and Pinetea; residual alluvial forests (Alnion glutinoso-incanae); Mediterranean pine forests with endemic black pine (Pinus nigra ssp. illyrica); beech forests; agroecosystems.