Description of the attraction
Lapland State Biosphere Nature Reserve is a well-known nature reserve located in the Murmansk region. Its territory is one of the most protected natural areas in all of Europe. The total area of the reserve is 278,435 hectares, including 8574 hectares of water. The most important and valuable part of the reserve is the wild and untouched nature, which is in its natural, pristine state.
The Lapland Murmansk Nature Reserve, which has federal protection, was created in 1930, and in 1985 it was included in the World System of Biosphere Reserves. It is worth noting that the reserve is not only a nature conservation, but also an environmental education and research center, with the goal of preserving and studying in detail the natural course of natural phenomena and processes, the genetic heritage of the animal and plant world, individual communities and species of animals and plants, unique or typical ecological systems, as well as to convey to the population important information regarding environmental education.
The relief of the protected area is rugged, hilly and mountainous. The largest part of the territory is covered with mountain tundra and includes five separate mountain ranges with different heights: from 600 to 1114 meters. For vertical forms of relief, the coherence of the outlines is especially characteristic, due to the antiquity of the mountain system.
The watershed between the Barents Sea and the White Sea runs across the Lapland Nature Reserve. All protected water bodies are subdivided into eight lake-river systems. In all lakes and rivers, the water is surprisingly clean, soft and transparent, which indicates the complete absence of limestone and indicates a weak chemical weathering. In the territorial zone of the reserve there are a considerable number of lakes and rivers that drain into the famous Imandra Lake. In total, there are 168 lakes, the total length of the shores of which is 370 km, 63 streams and rivers with a length of about 718 km.
One of the most important parts of the Murmansk reserve is old-growth forests, which occupy 52% of the entire territory. The age of individual woodlands ranges from three to ten thousand years. It is interesting that throughout their history, absolutely no forces, with the exception of natural ones, interfered in their development. Some trees are up to 600 years old, with a trunk diameter of 70 cm and a height of 30 meters.
According to the latest data, conifers mostly grow in the reserve: Siberian spruce and Friza pine. In addition, there are 575 species of lichens, 603 species of vascular plants, 370 species of mosses and 273 species of a wide variety of fungi. As for the vascular plants, five of their species are listed in the Red Book of Russia: lacustrine mushroom, bulbous calypso, alpine woodsia, cinnabar-red cotoneaster and Traushteiner's finger-root plant.
The Lapland Nature Reserve is home to more than 31 species of mammals, including wild reindeer, wolf, brown bear, fox, weasel, wolverine, American mink, European beaver, squirrel, white hare, forest lemming and many other representatives of the animal world. Birds constantly live and nest in the reserve, there are about 198 species. Five species of chickens have become especially characteristic of this region: black grouse, capercaillie, hazel grouse, tundra and ptarmigan, as well as five species of birds of prey listed in the Red Book: white-tailed eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcons and gyrfalcon, osprey. The rather harsh natural conditions of the reserve allow only twenty species of birds to winter, and 22 species are able to withstand the winter only in the presence of constant food.
A characteristic feature of the Lapland nature reserve is the presence of the estate of Father Frost, which is located on the shores of the small lake Chuna. In this place you can meet absolutely any animal that lives in this area, and the welcoming Grandfather Frost will welcome everyone who wants to visit his winter tower, which has a fabulously beautiful design.
