Paanajärvi National Park, Karelia: description, attractions and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

A compact protected area of exceptional value with amazingly picturesque landscapes is the Paanajärvi National Park. Its borders almost completely coincide with the catchment area of the Olanga, a river that flows through two national parks - Karelian and Finnish. The real pearl, which is framed by the territory of the Paanajärvi park, is the lake of the same name, and the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe park is 104,473 hectares.

General view

It is impossible to write about landscapes without high style, such beauty here. Mountain peaks are separated by the deepest steep gorges. A huge number of mountain lakes, a wide variety of swamps, stormy rivers, crashing against huge rapids and flowing with noisy waterfalls … Paanajärvi Park is very diverse. On the slopes of the mountains and in the valleys of the rivers stood virgin, nothingdisturbed forests, mostly spiky spruce forests. But if you climb to a height of more than half a kilometer, the forest thins out, and the spruces are interspersed with birch trees. Higher up, the spruces disappear, the birch trees become crooked from the winds and eventually give way to tundra vegetation.

Deep lake, surrounded by mountains, and therefore like a fjord, is so beautiful that even the famous Paanajärvi park bears his name. Here, the lands of the northern coast warm up perfectly, and therefore have been inhabited by people since time immemorial. The soils are very fertile, the climate is favorable, the waters are rich in fish, and the forests are rich in game. A truly heavenly place, which was first discovered by the Karelians, and in the eighteenth century they were pushed aside by the Finns. Both of them lived in harmony with nature, and it was impossible otherwise in such blessed places.

Park

Paanajärvi (Karelia) is a unique natural lake, and the Olanga River flowing here is no less unique. There are very few such places on the planet, and therefore it is necessary to use every inch for scientific, educational, recreational, environmental purposes. It was impossible to do this without creating a national park. Probably, it would not even be possible to preserve this natural we alth. And now, from the first moment of the creation of nat. of the Paanajärvi Park, the strictest protection of the existing biological diversity is ensured throughout the territory. And this requires constant financial support.

Support the natural and cultural heritage, oddly enough, tourism helps. Park "Paanajärvi" prices are notinflates to the skies, but the economy in the region not only does not fall into decline, but also develops thanks to the attention to this industry. The development of tourism here solves several problems at once: protected wildlife is explored, which is of interest not only to Russian, but also to foreign tourists. The park management maintains a policy that not only attracts a huge number of visitors, but also provides them with a very educational and interesting stay, without causing the slightest harm to the ecosystem.

History

Because earlier all the shores of the lake were very densely populated, the creation of the reserve was not possible. When the Oulanka National Park was planned, this area was not included in its boundaries. Only in 1926 was Professor Linkola prepared a draft of the buffer zone. The Finnish government considered and approved it with a bill, on the basis of which a park was created with a border a little west of the village of Paanajärvi. The road then was the only one here - from the south, it was built in 1906 from Vuotunki. It was narrow and uncomfortable, fit only for wagons.

By the mid-twenties, it was expanded, cars began to run actively, and therefore economic activity has significantly revived. Shops, a first-aid post and even a bank branch have opened in Paanajärvi. In the 1930s, the boundary redistribution continued, in Paanajärvi more than sixty farms already existed independently. And in 1934, a second road came here - from the north, and with it a through route for tourists, whichIt was called "Bear Corner". Then there was a war, and all ties with Paanajärvi were cut off. That was the name of the hiking trail in the Oulanka National Park.

Borderlands

Before the war, Paanajärvi was a very prosperous village, the best in the Kuusamo community, as it was a tourist center that received more than a thousand tourists in one season. In addition, natural scientists were almost always here looking for rare plants on the western border of the taiga. There is a relict flora here, in other places in Finland many species are absent.

When the Finnish war ended and a peace treaty was signed, the border ran through other territories, much to the east, so the traditional trade ties were interrupted. The village was completely destroyed by the war, all the buildings were burned. These blessed places became inaccessible to tourists for half a century - only border guards lived here. For Finns and Karelians, Lake Paanajärvi was now inaccessible, because the border strip was very wide and heavily guarded.

Restructuring

At the end of the 1980s, this area began to be discussed again, since a hydroaccumulative power plant was planned on the lake, and a ski center was planned on the highest mountain in Karelia, Nuorunen. It was these two names that constantly sounded in television programs, the situation with them was covered on the pages of so many newspapers and magazines. Nuorunen and Paanajärvi rapidly became the symbols of Karelia, whichdemanded their protection due to the unique features of the area.

From the other side of the border, various proposals were also made regarding the preservation of this corner inviolability. The resistance of business people, primarily lumberjacks, was very strong. But the nature conservation forces won, and in May 1992 the Russian government signed a corresponding decree on the creation of a national park four times larger than Oulanka. This is how the Paanajärvi park appeared, the reviews of which the tourists leave the most enthusiastic. Memories remain with them for life.

Climate

The climate here is considered very harsh, but this only applies to the Oulanka-Paanajärvi region. The average temperature here is always fifteen degrees - both in winter and in summer, respectively, with minus and plus signs. The average annual temperature is therefore around zero. If not for the Gulf Stream, it would be the same here as in Siberia, where it is always forty degrees - both in winter and in summer. It should be borne in mind that the terrain is rugged, and very strongly, and therefore the microclimatic conditions differ from each other, and often strikingly.

It is warmer in the Oulanki Valley, in summer the sun heats the southern slopes strongly, giving life to plants that are not found in these latitudes. Naturally, in the depths of the valleys, where there is protection from the winds, it is much warmer than on the mountain peaks. It is always damp and cool in the crevices, only the northernmost plants grow here. But in winter it is much colder in the valleys, because cold air flows there from the mountains.

Where spruces came from

Spruce has dominated the local river valleys for six thousand years, and it was then that the current biological diversity of this area was formed. Judging by the latitude and climate characteristic of the northern subpolar taiga, tree-forming vegetation in these places is rather scarce: there is only spruce, birch and pine. However, where the soils are richer and the slopes are protected from penetrating winds, there are quite a lot of aspens. What bright fiery red spots in the middle of coniferous greenery can be seen here in autumn!

Willow branches bathe their branches in rivers and streams; alder is also often found, but more bushy. There are a lot of mountain ash and juniper in the swamps, from which we can conclude that the local soils are rich. Almost all rivers and streams are decorated with bird cherry, filling them with light and smell along their entire length. And the slopes of the mountains show a strict vertical zonality of the forest cover. Many trees along the shores of the lake and along the river - mostly conifers - are over four hundred years old, and there are specimens that are six hundred.

Exclusivity

Eka unseen - pine, spruce, birch, alder! What is exceptional here? All of our sixth part of the land is covered with such trees. And, nevertheless, this natural complex is unique and has a value of world significance. Many species of both flora and fauna have been preserved here, which have completely disappeared after felling forests in other places. Botanists have literally been living in these places for more than a hundred years, because on the sunny slopes there are plants of the southernmost latitudes, and on the shady slopes - relict Arctic ones.

There are exceptionally many botanical rarities here. More than six hundred species of higher vascular plants alone have been found in the territory of the national park, and more than twenty of them are not found in any of the regions of Karelia. There are many southern species (lily of the valley, strawberries, for example) growing side by side with the northernmost ones. There are also many newcomers from the eastern regions - the Siberian aster, the B altic honeysuckle and others, and no less from the western lands. More than seventy species of plants that grow widely here are listed in the Red Book.

Fauna

And the Paanajärvi park is rich in wildlife. The reviews of tourists speak of many representatives of the taiga zone met here: they came across not only lynxes, elks and bears, but also wolverine and ermine. Scientists present a much longer list: wolves, martens, foxes, hares, squirrels, minks, weasels, otters and dozens of species of rodents. The reindeer is also spoken and written about, although it has spread only in the Finnish border area. Mink, muskrat, beaver coexist with arctic fox and lemming. More than one hundred and fifty species of birds nest in this region - both southern and northern. Particularly vulnerable species settle here: whooper swan, common crane and many others. There are Red Book predators - the osprey, the white-tailed eagle, the golden eagle, and more than eighteen species of rare and endangered birds have chosen these places.

And the reservoirs here are unique. The lakes and rivers of the Paanajärvi park are home to both salmon and whitefish, as well as common burbot, pike, perch and roach. The main thing is just in large quantities. All reservoirs in this area are very deep, with clean spring water. They are isolated from each other by high waterfalls. Of the relic fish, smelt lives here, and the motley goby and minnow serve as a good food base for valuable fish. The queen among all is the brown trout, corroded here to a weight of more than ten kilograms. This is a valuable trophy for park visitors! Those who are lucky are sure to write a review about the Paanajärvi National Park. And, judging by the reviews, many are lucky!

How to get there

For those who want to visit the Paanajärvi National Park, contacts are attached. In the village of Pyaozersky there is a visitor center, this is in the Loukhsky district of the Republic of Karelia. The village itself can be reached from the west, south and east along a dirt road (about sixty kilometers). From St. Petersburg, Moscow and Petrozavodsk, the route St. Petersburg - Murmansk will lead. You can come by train to the Loukhi station, then by bus to the village of Pyaozersky.