How good it is that unique ecosystems are carefully preserved in our country for living and future generations, where you can admire nature in its original form, watch animals in the wild, breathe in the life-giving aromas of flowers and herbs! One of such corners is the Central Forest State Natural Biosphere Reserve. It has an extraordinary history, a complex past and a wonderful present. Scientists carry out their important research, thereby ensuring the existence of other Russian ecosystems. But the reserve is open to all nature lovers. Children are especially welcome here. Interesting outdoor activities, excursions are held for them, and Baba Yaga, who lives in the forest thicket, arranges a real exam for young botanists and zoologists.
Location
The Central Forest State Nature Reserve is located on the lands of the Tver region to the south-west of Tver. Location in numbersrelative to nearby major cities looks like this:
- from Moscow in a straight line to the reserve about 285 km;
- from Kaluga 274 km;
- from Vitebsk 212 km;
- from Smolensk 175 km;
- from Tver 167 km;
- from Rzhev 75 km.
The legendary Lake Seliger splashes 68 km from the protected areas.
Geographically, the Central Forest State Reserve is located on the Valdai Hills, on the watershed (Caspian-B altic) of the upper reaches of the Volga and Western Dvina rivers. Near the boundaries of the reserve or directly on its territory, the sources of the Mezha, Tyudma, Tudovka, Zhukopa rivers gush out of the ground.
Prehistory of the reserve
The places where the Central Forest Reserve of the Tver region is located were relatively well preserved until the 20th century because their soil composition and windfall forest lands caused difficulties for economic development. In the 18th century they were called Okovsky or Volkonsky forest. There was wilderness here. Only a few villages were able to take shelter along the Tudovka and Zhukopa rivers. In the Okovsky forest there were hunting dachas of General Romeiko, Count Sheremetyev and several landowners. All of them came here to hunt and did not use the forest any more, and Romeiko, in addition, introduced security orders on his part of the forest, banning poaching and logging, although on separate hills, where there was no stagnant water, the peasants cleared the land by slash or slash-and-fire method, plowed them and created residential settlements.
In 1905, frightenedrevolution, the former owners began to sell their allotments, and the new owners, for the sake of profit, did what they wanted on them. The situation did not change even after the Great October 1017. It was only in the 1920s that the Soviet government took up issues of preserving natural resources.
Foundation steps
The Central Forest Reserve of the Tver Region, according to documents, was established in 1931 on the eve of the New Year holidays, on December 31st. However, work on its creation began in 1925. Then the associate professor of the Pedagogical Institute in Smolensk, Grigory Leonidovich Grave, led an expedition to study natural resources near Moscow and delivered a verdict that it was the lands of the Tver region between the Volga and the Northern Dvina that were most suitable to become protected areas. The lumber merchants of those places opposed this and actively cut down the most valuable trees so that the land would lose all value. In 1930, Grave organized a new expedition and determined a new territory for the reserve. From his old markings, only 3,000 hectares were included in it. Thanks to the efforts of this man, the reserve appeared, and Grave became its director.
Experienced hardships
In the 1930s and 1940s, the Central Forest Reserve near Tver worked successfully and fruitfully - they built administrative buildings, laboratories, housing for employees, roads. 61 people worked here, of which there were 15 security guards and 21 researchers. A young ecologist Vladimir Stanchinsky gave a lot of effort to the reserve, who organized an integrated approach to work. But this man in 1941slandered, repressed, thrown into prison, where he died a year later.
Funding of the reserve by the government was going well, which made it possible to carry out many studies and introduce useful environmental programs, but the war crossed everything out. Many conscripts or voluntarily went to the front, those who remained tried to evacuate the reserve, and irresponsible local residents stole everything they could. In 1941, a partisan detachment operated on the territory of the reserve. The Nazis and their henchmen, the policemen, were afraid to go deep into the forest, but they plundered the central estate and museum, destroyed many collections and manuscripts, causing damage for 265,000 rubles, which was a huge amount for the Soviet era.
As soon as the front moved to the west, the Central Forest Reserve resumed its work. His staff consisted of only 13 people. Bit by bit, people resumed what they had lost, re-created laboratories. But in 1951, the resurrected reserve was closed, and the employees were fired. Only after 9 years, during which much was again plundered and lost, it began to be revived again. In 1985, this reserve was included in the international network of protected areas of UNESCO. Now there is a scientific department, a staff of security guards, a craniological laboratory, a stronghold that studies the life of brown bears, a village for employees has been restored, guest houses and a hostel for tourists have been built.
Structure
The Central Forest Reserve covers an area of 70,500 hectares. It is divided into zones:
- preserved core;
- buffer;
- sustainability.
In the protected core (area of 24415 hectares), any activity that violates the ecological balance in nature is prohibited. There is a zone of absolute peace here, the village of Zapovedny is located.
The buffer zone is a strip of land along the perimeter of the core, 1 km wide and with a total area of up to 130 km2. There are badger settlements, capercaillie currents, nature reserves, tracts, natural monuments on it.
There are also sanctuaries and capercaillie tokas in the rational use zone. In addition, there are areas where it is allowed to pick mushrooms, cranberries and other berries, mow hay, and fish with rods.
Natural characteristics
The Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve lies on a hilly plain dominated by glacial landforms. Above sea level, its marks are 220-280 meters. The territory of the reserve is represented by moraine ridges. There are also lake basins. In general, there are many water resources here - for every 1 km2 there are about 750 meters of streams and rivers. Groundwater is located just 3 meters from the surface. Large areas (6323 hectares) are occupied by swamps. Among them are Verkhovskiy Moss, Staroselskiy Moss, Demikhovsky Moss, and the biggest one is Katin Moss.
The soil structure of the reserve is represented quite widely. There are sod, podzolic, marsh, peat, humus, alluvial, gley soils and their various combinations, for example,sod-podzolic, peat-podzolic-gleyic.
The climate in the reserve is humid and cool, in summer the average temperature is about +16 °C, in winter -10°C, there are 45% of sunny days a year.
Flora
The Central Forest Reserve has a relatively poor flora, which is associated with the peculiarities of climate and soils. European vegetation prevails here, with a total of 546 species, mostly growing well in the shade. Among them are herbaceous - 490 species, shrubs and semi-shrubs - 34 species, trees - 16 species, cultivated - 6 species. Birch, aspen, elm, ash, pine, spruce (there are areas of especially valuable southern taiga spruce forest), linden, oak, alder grow in the reserve.
Among the herbaceous plants there are many representatives of the Red Book, for example, grapevine, resurrecting moonwort, lady's slipper. Of the herbs and flowers in the reserve, you can see chamomile, mallow, Ivan da Marya, bluebell, fern, calla, veronica, lungwort, gravel, and blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, and blackberries grow in the swamps and near them.
Fauna
For our smaller brothers, the Central Forest Reserve has become a paradise. Animals here are represented by 335 species. Mammals in the reserve are large (bears, wolves, elks, lynxes, foxes, deer, wild boars, roe deer) and small (rodents, bats, beavers, minks, ferrets, badgers, moles, hedgehogs) - a total of 56 species. Also, amphibians (frogs, toads, newts), lizards, snakes have been spotted on the territory of the reserve. In the rivers and streams flowing through the territory of the reserve, there are 18 speciesfish. But the greatest variety here, of course, is the birds. A total of 250 species have been recorded. Warblers, goldfinches, orioles, thrushes, flycatchers, finches, warblers, robins, and kinglets chirp in the branches. Eagle owls and owls go hunting at night, peregrine falcons, spotted eagles, golden eagles, and red-footed falcons hunt during the day. Ducks, woodcocks, sandpipers, cranes, herons nest near water bodies. Capercaillie, which are especially protected from poachers, are the decoration of the reserve.
Food for most birds are insects, which counted 600 species in the reserve. Not all of their representatives are pleasant to look at and harmless, but no one argues about the beauty of butterflies. There are 250 of them here. The most spectacular are the admiral, blueberry, mother-of-pearl, lemongrass, and charcoal.
Tour trails
The Central Forest Biosphere Reserve is happy for both children and adults. There are several trails for nature lovers. Three of them are short, about a kilometer long, but interesting. Here, Baba Yaga is waiting for travelers, but not in order to eat them, but in order to give them an exam on knowledge of the nature of these places. The trails are:
- "Secrets of the Okovsky Forest". A 300-year-old pine tree 46 meters high grows here, observation platforms are installed, and the entire path is paved with boards.
- "Forest alphabet". On this trail it is interesting to study the traces of forest dwellers, samples of which are placed on the tablets.
- "Old village moss". This trail runs through the swamp, but the path is also paved with boards. On it you can admire not only birds(lapwings, waders, wagtails, cranes) but also elks, even bears, which sometimes come to the swamp to feast on berries.
For adults in the reserve, routes with a length of about 25 km have been developed. They lead deep into the forest and are carried out with an escort. These are Krasny Stan, Badger and Siberia. There are huts on the routes where you can relax, have a bite to eat and even spend the night.
Opening hours and prices
The Central Forest Reserve in the Tver region is open for guests all week (except Saturday and Sunday) from 10-00 am to 12-00 pm, then lunch hour, and again work continues from 13-00 pm to 4 pm 00 pm. Entry price is:
- age up to 10 years - 50 rubles;
- under 16 - 75 rubles;
- adults - 150 rubles.
Escort on routes 25 km long costs 1000 rubles for 1 day.
A visit to the museum costs from 250 to 400 rubles (depending on the size of the group).
You can spend the night in the reserve for 300 rubles a day (at the lodge and in the hostel) and for 600 rubles in a guest house.
Transfer to the city of Nelidovo (42 km from the village of Zapovedny) one way costs from 600 to 3000 rubles, depending on the class of transport unit.
