The left bank of the Iskar River from the village of Gara Lakatnik to the village of Lyutibrod entirely falls within the boundaries of the Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park. In addition, this territory is both a Protected Area under the Habitats Directive (Protected Area BG0000166 "Vrachanski Balkan") and under the Birds Directives (Protected Area BG0002053 "Vrachanski Balkan"). Almost the same scope is also occupied by the "Vrachanski Balkan" region as one of the main butterfly areas in Bulgaria. The left bank of the Iskar River is over 90% occupied by karst terrain. Valuable habitats are: beech, oak and mixed forests, hay meadows, dry grass and shrub communities on limestone, chasmophyte (rock-loving) vegetation on karst, undeveloped caves, springs, rivers, natural eutrophic lakes. The objects of protection are: mammals (wolf, marbled polecat, European ground squirrel, Eurasian otter), amphibians and reptiles (yellow-bellied toad, common marsh turtle, Hermann's tortoise and Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise, northern crested newt), fish - black (Balkan) barbel, spined loach (Cobitis megaspila), golden spined loach, European bittern. On the territory of Vratsa Balkan, 30 species of bats out of all 33 species inhabiting the country are found. All of them are protected by law. Vrachanski Balkan is an important habitat for a number of diurnal and nocturnal birds of prey. Among the most attractive are the vultures - griffon and black, which reach about 100 birds and breed successfully on the rocks of the park. The region is one of the most important sites in Bulgaria for 5 species of nesting birds of prey.
These are the Short-toed snake eagle, the Long-legged buzzard, the Saker falcon, the Peregrine falcon and The Eurasian eagle-owl. The Golden eagle also has a good breeding population in the area. The limestone slopes of the mountain are also inhabited by other rock-loving birds – swifts, crag martin The wallcreeper, yellow-billed chough, mountain partridges, etc. A total of 181 bird species have been identified on the territory of the park.
The flora of the Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park includes over 1,100 species of higher plants, which is 28% of the Bulgarian flora. Among them are many rare and endemic species. The rarest species are Asplenium lepidum, Centranthus kellereri and Silene velcevii. Dozens of orchid species are found in the park.
The right bank of the Iskar River from the village of Bov to the village of Lyutibrod is a Protected Area under the Habitats Directive (Protected Area BG0001042 "Iskar Gorge-Rzhana") and the "Iskar Gorge" region is one of the main areas for butterflies in Bulgaria. The area of ​​Lyutibrod and Cherepish is entirely karst, with limestone also found in the area of ​​the village of Lakatnik. Along the rest of the right bank of the Iskar River, the rocks are almost entirely silicate. Valuable habitats are: beech, oak and mixed forests, hay meadows, dry grass and shrub communities, chasmophyte (rock-loving) vegetation on karst and silicate rocks, undeveloped caves, springs, rivers.
