In 1949 botanist Ivo Horvat suggested for the first time that the area around Risnjak should be protected. On his advice, the parliament of the then Socialist Republic of Croatia declared 36.00 km2 around Risnjak to be a national park. In 1956 the area of the park was reduced to 30.14 km2, of which 21.06 km2 were put under stricter protection. Finally, in 1997, the Croatian parliament voted to enlarge of the park to its current size. The areas of Snježnik and Kupa source were added to the park but also for the first time inhabited areas of villages of Razloge, Razloški okrug and Krašćevica.