Soomaa National Park
Encyclopedia
Soomaa National Park is national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 in south-western Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

. Soomaa ("land of bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s") protects 390 km², and is a Ramsar site of protected wetlands. The park was created in 1993, and is the newest Estonian national park.

Geography

The national park, situated in Transitional Estonia, has been created to protect large raised bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s, flood plain grassland
Grassland
Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

s, paludified
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s and meandering rivers. The territory of the national park is mostly covered with large mires, separated from each other by the
rivers of the Pärnu River
Pärnu River
The Pärnu is a river in Estonia that drains into the Gulf of Riga at Pärnu. It is a one of the longest rivers in Estonia - 144 km long. It has the basin area of 6,920 km² and average discharge is 64.4 m³/s.- References :...

 basin — the Navesti, Halliste, Raudna and Lemmjõgi rivers. Of the raised bogs, the most noteworthy is the
Kuresoo raised bog, whose steep southern slope, falling into the Lemmejõgi, rises by 8 metres over a distance of 100 m.

On the eastern margin of the national park lie the highest dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...

s on the Estonian mainland, situated some 50 kilometres off the contemporary coastline. The most characteristic coastal formations of the predecessor of the present Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, the Baltic Ice Lake
Baltic ice lake
The Baltic ice lake is a name given by geologists to a freshwater lake that gradually formed in the Baltic Sea basin as glaciation retreated from that region at the end of the Pleistocene. The lake, dated to 12,600-10,300 BP, is roughly contemporaneous with the three Pleistocene Blytt-Sernander...

 (11 200–10,600 years ago), which marks the one-time water level, are situated on the north-western and western edges of the Sakala Upland. The Ruunaraipe Dunes are the highest of the area. The dune ridge, winding from northwest to southeast is a 1.2 km long sand ridge, whose maximum height is 12 metres.

In 2009, Soomaa National Park, the largest intact peat bog system in Europe preserved as wilderness, joined the PAN Parks
PAN Parks
PAN Parks works to protect Europe's wilderness, the continent's most undisturbed areas of nature.PAN Parks, the only European-wide organisation focusing on the protection of wilderness areas, applies an approach combining wilderness protection and sustainable tourism development.The organisation...

 network of wilderness areas as it proved excellence in combining wilderness protection and sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism is tourism attempting to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development brings a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and the...

 development.

Floods

When vast amounts of water run down the Sakala Upland, the rivers of Soomaa cannot contain it all. The water flows over flood plain grasslands and forests, and covers roads, disrupting connection with the outer world. In some years the spring floods have risen by a meter a day for 3–4 days.

The Riisa flood area is formed in such a way; with a surface area covering 175 square kilometres at its largest, it is the biggest regularly flooded area in Estonia and whole Northern Europe. At the maximum flood level the water-covered area can be 7–8 km across. Steep-sloped, raised bogs stand as islands in the water. The flood has been called the fifth season in Soomaa.

Flora and fauna

Soomaa National Park is the most valuable part of the remaining extensive wilderness area in South-West Estonia. Kuresoo Bog is one of the two best surviving large bogs in Estonia with species diversity amongst the highest.

Flora
The alluvial meadows and forests that cover the riverbanks are of great botanical value. Approximately 200 species have been recorded, including Gladiolus imbricatus, Iris sibirica
Iris sibirica
Iris sibirica, the Siberian Iris, is a flowering plant in the genus Iris, native to northern Asia and eastern and central Europe....

, and Sedum telephium. The unique swamp forests (carrs) surrounding the site are also of special interest.

Fauna
The site regularly supports more than 1% of the individuals in relevant populations of Cygnus columbianus and Grus grus, and the composition of bird species in these bogs, especially Kuresoo, is one of the most representative in Estonia. Species recorded include Aquila chrysaetos, Numenius phaeopus (more than 100 pairs), Pluvialis apricaria (ca 150 pairs) Calidris alpina schinzii, Falco columbarius, Lagopus lagopus, and Circus pygargus.

During the autumn migration, it is a stopover and roosting site for Grus grus (approximately 1,000) and Cygnus columbianus (approximately 500), and during spring migration (approximately 2,000) for C. columbianus. Crex crex is still numerous on floodplain meadows (50-100 pairs). It is an important spawning ground for the fish Esox lucius.

As a large wilderness area, Soomaa is a home and breading area for several mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s that are extinct or very rare in other parts of Europe. The most numerous species of the large mammals are the roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...

, elk, and wild boar. Beaver, lynx, wolf, brown bear, are common as well.

Research
Soomaa National Park and its surroundings are one of the main research areas for large carnivores and herbivores in Estonia. Starting from 2004 several cooperation projects have been organised between State Nature Conservation Centre and universities in Estonia and abroad. The main goal within these studies has been telemetric observation of species like Lynx lynx and Canis lupus.

"In 2009 Soomaa receives PAN Parks certification" for its excellence in combining wilderness protection and sustainable tourism development.

Traditional culture

Soomaa is the only place in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 where the tradition of making dugout canoes
Dugout (boat)
A dugout or dugout canoe is a boat made from a hollowed tree trunk. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. Monoxylon is Greek -- mono- + ξύλον xylon -- and is mostly used in classic Greek texts. In Germany they are called einbaum )...

 (Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...

 haabjas) survived into the 20th and 21st centuries. In recent decades, a new surge of interest in making dugouts has revitalized the ancient tradition.

Visitor Centre

The Soomaa National Park Visitor Centre is situated in South-West Estonia between Pärnu and Viljandy county, being located in the middle of the park 44 km away from the centre of Viljandi and Pärnu cities. Building of the visitor centre was finished in 1998 and has been placed on the historical crossroad of ancient winter ways that were used up to the beginning of 20.th century for transporting goods from Pärnu to Viljandi.

The aim of the Visitor Centre is to give all information needed for those tourists, who come to explore the nature of Soomaa. There are printed out information for several nature trails as well as media guides, films and small public library. It is also possible to order nature
educational lectures and participate in different workshops and programs.

Activities

Hiking and study trails
There are several hiking and study trails, placed all over the National Park to explore the nature at its best:
  • Riisa hiking trail: 5 km / ca 3 h / Riisa bog / watch tower /
  • Ingatsi hiking trail: 4,5 km / ca 3 h / Kuresoo bog / watch tower /
  • Beaver trail: 2 km / ca 1,5 h /  Beaver habitat and paludified forest /
  • Oksa track: 800 m / ca 45.min / culture heritage object and meadows /
  • Kuuraniidu hiking trail: 1,2 km / ca 1.5 h / old forest habitat / watch tower /
  • Mulgi meadow: camping site /  flood plain grasslands / rich bird habitat /
  • Tõramaa hiking trail: 2,5 km / ca 3 h / Halliste meadow, rich bird habitat / bird watchtower /
  • Meiekose hiking trail: 2,8 km / ca 3 h / old cart road through abandoned Tõramaa village / semi natural habitats /
  • Kuresoo hiking trail: 32 km / 2 days / various landscape and culture historical sites /
  • Hüpassaare study trail: 5 km / 2,5 h / Kuresoo bog / semi-natural habitats / museum of Mart Saar
    Mart Saar
    Mart Saar was an Estonian composer, organist and collector of folk songs.-Childhood:Saar was born at the small borough of Hüpassaare, Estonia, then part of the Livonian Governorate, Russian Empire, to a family of forest keepers. He received his education in the village school at Kaansoo and the...

  • Tipu study trail: 3 km / 2 h / culture historical sites / traditional rural landscape / semi-natural habitats

More detailed information about Soomaa nature- and hiking trails from State Forest Management Centre homepage


Tours
There are five seasons in Soomaa – spring, summer, autumn, winter and high-water season.

Canoeing season lasts from April until October. Canoeing is also one of the best ways to get acquainted with Soomaa. Canoeing on the flooded area is an adventurous experience, floods are common in the
end of March or at the beginning of April. Guided trip on a traditional dugout canoes is an exclusive way of paddling,  log-boat
building camps are organised in summer.

Bog walks can be undertaken in the area, walkways on wooden boards give visitors the opportunity to observe the special flora and fauna of the deep peat bogs.

In winter, when the whole wetland is frozen, snowshoe and sledge tours are being organised over the frozen bogs and in the case of snow also cross-country skiing trips.

In the year 2009 Soomaa National Park was awarded by European Commission as a supreme nature holiday destination.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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