Description of the attraction
In 2006, the Kalevalsky National Park was established on the border between Finland and the northern part of the Kostomushka City municipality. The park, formed by a special order of the Government, occupies about 75,000 hectares of land. The purpose for which the national park was created is to preserve the unique natural landscape of northern Russia, the beauty of which has been described more than once in Karelian folk epics.
The Kalevala National Park can be called the only one of its kind, since on its territory you can find dry pine forests growing not only on rocks, but also on glacial deposits. In addition to the pristine forests in the park, you can find rare bog and lake ecosystems that require particularly careful protection. On the lands belonging to the Kalevala Park, any activity that can cause at least some damage to forest ecosystems and representatives of the animal world, as well as the entire cultural and historical complex of the park, is prohibited.
The main landscape of the park consists of forests, lakes and swamps. Lake Lower Lapukka, one of the largest, is located in the border area of the park. For centuries, fish and game have been fished at this place. Imprints of those times can be found to this day, in the form of smokehouses for fish inscribed in the surrounding landscape, trees overgrown with grass for a long time with special hunting notches on the borders of the grounds, and even bait for martens, built as burrows. The roads that once connected different villages have turned into obscure outlines and are now difficult to guess. And modern trails are already laid by wild animals: elk, deer and bears.
The forests of the national park are unique and inimitable. The sustainable habitat that has survived for more than one millennium is the main value of the park. You can still find primitive plants and species of very whimsical animals in it.
Kalevala National Park is divided into natural zones. On the west side there are everlasting spruces, on the east - pines. Before the eyes of the traveler, the forest appears in all its diversity. Here you can find both a young transparent forest and columns of mature trees rushing straight up. The quiet forest tranquility is disturbed only by the playful noise of streams.
A variety of animals also live in the protected forests. So, in the summer, you can find reindeer with cubs who have come to the river to drink, as well as smaller animals - hares and martens. In the spring, you can see golden eagles, which non-stop circling over the swamp islets, protecting the nests. And you can witness the hunting of ospreys on the lakes. The white-tailed eagle is not uncommon in these forests. The reserved places have become home to rare species of kites, whose nests have been found more than once in the park. In summer, cranes build their nests along swampy shores, and numerous flocks of goose graze in the swamps themselves.
People who have lived in these places since ancient times protected their habitat. Now such a task is facing the Kalevala National Park. To preserve, restore and increase the natural wealth of the region. The tasks set include not only the protection and monitoring of the entrusted lands, unique flora and fauna, but also research activities within the framework of various international projects. In addition to these activities, the Kalevala National Park cooperates extensively with local schools, higher educational institutions, as well as with non-governmental organizations in order to educate young people in the environment. Within the framework of such programs, organized excursion trips to the national park take place. Another principle of the park's work is to attract tourists by creating good infrastructure and new jobs for residents of the surrounding villages.
