Alam Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia
The Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is located in central Estonia north east of Lake Võrtsjärv and about 20 miles north west of Tartu and it was established in 1994 to protect a complex of bogs, fens, pools, rivers, floodplain meadows, copses and forests. It is also included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.
The Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Estonia and it is a vast wilderness area of over 130 square miles. The nature reserve is largely a wetland, including a complex of 5 large bogs and the floodplains of the large rivers (Emajõgi, Põltsamaa and Pedja). Wetlands cover 82% of the nature reserve's territory. Most of the forests are also wet and the alluvial broadleaved and old-growth forests are particularly valuable.
As with many of eastern Europe’s wildest areas, the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve owes its present state to having formerly being used as a Soviet Union training base and bombing range. Much of the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is very difficult to access but it can be partially explored via a minor road heading west from the main Tartu to Tallinn road.
Nearly 200 bird species have been recorded in the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve including around 160 which have bred. It is also an important stopover site for migrating wildfowl. As a large wilderness area, the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is also home to numerous species of large mammals including Brown Bear, Wolf, Lynx, Beaver, Elk and Wild Boar.
Date: 19th May 2016
Location: Selli-Sillaosta bog nature trail, Alam Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia
The Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Estonia and it is a vast wilderness area of over 130 square miles. The nature reserve is largely a wetland, including a complex of 5 large bogs and the floodplains of the large rivers (Emajõgi, Põltsamaa and Pedja). Wetlands cover 82% of the nature reserve's territory. Most of the forests are also wet and the alluvial broadleaved and old-growth forests are particularly valuable.
As with many of eastern Europe’s wildest areas, the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve owes its present state to having formerly being used as a Soviet Union training base and bombing range. Much of the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is very difficult to access but it can be partially explored via a minor road heading west from the main Tartu to Tallinn road.
Nearly 200 bird species have been recorded in the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve including around 160 which have bred. It is also an important stopover site for migrating wildfowl. As a large wilderness area, the Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is also home to numerous species of large mammals including Brown Bear, Wolf, Lynx, Beaver, Elk and Wild Boar.
Date: 19th May 2016
Location: Selli-Sillaosta bog nature trail, Alam Pedja Nature Reserve, Estonia
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Also in: Estonia
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