How good is that in our country carefullyunique ecosystems are preserved for living and future generations, where you can admire nature in its original form, observe animals in freedom, inhale the life-giving aromas of flowers and herbs! One of these corners is the Central Forest State Natural Biosphere Reserve. It has an extraordinary history, a complex past and a beautiful present. Scientists conduct 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. For them, interesting classes are held in nature, excursions, and Baba Yaga, who lives in the forest more often, 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 from Tver. In numbers, its location relative to nearby major cities is as follows:
- 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 nature reserve.
Geographically Central Forest StateThe reserve is located on the Valdai Hills, on the watershed (Caspian-Baltic) of the upper reaches of the Volga and Zapadnaya Dvina rivers. Near the borders of the reserve or directly on its territory, the sources of the rivers Mezha, Tyudma, Tudovka, Zhukopa are beaten from the ground.
Prehistory of the reserve
Места, где находится Центральный Лесной The reserve of the Tver region, relatively well preserved until the 20th century, because their soil composition and wind forest lands caused difficulties for economic development. In the 18th century they were called the Okova or Volkonsky forest. Here was a wilderness. Only a few villages were able to shelter along the rivers Tudovka and Zhukop. There were hunting cottages of General Romeiko, Count Sheremetyevo and several landowners in the Okovsky Forest. All of them came here to hunt and didn’t use the forest any more, and in addition, Romaiko introduced guard orders on his part of the forest, banning poaching and cutting, although on separate hills, where there was no water stagnation, peasants cleared the ground or slash-and-fire method, cleared the ground their and created residential settlements.
В 1905-м, испугавшись революции, прежние the owners began to sell their land, and for the sake of profit the new owners worked on them what they wanted. The situation did not change after the Great October 1017th. Only in the 1920s did the Soviet government deal with the conservation of natural resources.
Stages of the foundation
Central Forest Reserve Tver regionThe documents were formed in 1931 on the eve of the New Year holidays, December 31. 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 issued a verdict that it was the grounds of the Tver region between the Volga and Northern Dvina that were most suitable for becoming protected. The timber merchants of those places opposed this and actively cut down the most valuable trees so that the lands would lose any value. In 1930, Grave organized a new expedition and determined a new territory for the reserve. From its old markings, it included only 3,000 hectares. Thanks to the efforts of this man, a nature reserve appeared, and Grave became its director.
Experienced difficulties
In the 30s-40s, the Central Forest ReserveTver worked successfully and fruitfully - built administrative buildings, laboratories, housing for employees, roads. 61 people worked here, of which there were 15 guards and 21 research associates. Young ecologist Vladimir Stanchinsky gave a lot of energy to the reserve, having organized an integrated approach to work. But in 1941, this man was slandered, repressed, thrown into prison, where he died a year later.
Funding for the reserve government wentfine, which made it possible to carry out many studies and implement useful eco-programs, but the war crossed out everything. Many conscripts or volunteers went to the front, the rest tried to evacuate the reserve, and the irresponsible local people took away everything they could. In 1941 a partisan detachment operated in the reserve. The Nazis and their henchmen the policemen were afraid to go deep into the forest, but they ransacked the central estate and the museum, destroyed many collections and manuscripts, causing damage of 265,000 rubles, which was a huge amount for the Soviet era.
As soon as the front moved to the west, the reserveCentral Forest resumed its work. His staff consisted of only 13 people. People bit by bit renewed the lost, re-created the laboratory. But in 1951, the resurrected reserve was closed, and employees were fired. Only after 9 years, during which again much was plundered and lost, was it revived again. In 1985, this reserve was included in the international network of protected sites by UNESCO. Now there is a scientific department, a state of security guards, a craniological laboratory, a strong point studying the life of brown bears, a village for employees, a guest house and a hostel for tourists.
Structure
The Central Forest Reserve covers an area of 70,500 hectares. It is divided into zones:
- reserved core;
- buffer;
- rational use.
In the protected core (area 24415 hectares), any activity that violates the eco-balance in nature is prohibited. There is a zone of absolute rest, located Zapovedny village.
The buffer zone is a strip of land along the core perimeter, 1 km wide and with a total area of up to 130 km2. There are badger settlements, wood-grouse currents, game reserves, tracts, and natural monuments.
In the zone of rational use are also available.reserves and wood-grouse currents. In addition, there are areas where it is allowed to pick mushrooms, cranberries and other berries, mow hay, and fish with fishing rods.
Natural characteristics
Центральный Лесной государственный биосферный The reserve lies on a hilly plain dominated by glacier topography. Above sea level, its elevations are 220-280 meters. The territory of the reserve is represented by moraine ridges. There are lake basins here. In general, there are a lot of water resources here - about 750 meters of streams and rivers for every 1 km2. Groundwater is located just 3 meters from the surface. Large areas (6323 hectares) are swamps. Among them are “Verkhovsky Mokh”, “Staroselsky Mokh”, “Demikhovsky Mokh” and the largest “Katin Mokh”.
The soil structure of the reserve is representedpretty wide. Here there are sod, podzolic, marsh, peat, humus, alluvial, gley soils and various combinations of them, for example, sod-podzolic, peat-podzolic-gley.
The climate in the reserve is humid and cool, in summer the average temperatures are around +16 ° C, in winter -10 ° C, there are 45% sunny days in the year.
Flora
Заповедник Центрально-Лесной имеет сравнительно poor flora, which is associated with the characteristics of climate and soil. European vegetation dominates here, with a total of 546 species, mostly well-growing in the shade. Among them are grassy - 490 species, shrubs and dwarf shrubs - 34 species, trees - 16 species, cultivated - 6 species. In the reserve grow birch, aspen, elm, ash, pine, spruce (there are areas of particularly valuable southern taiga spruce), linden, oak, alder.
Among the herbaceous plants there are manyrepresentatives of the Red Book, for example, grazdovik, reviving lunik, lady's slipper. From the herbs and flowers in the reserve, you can see chamomile, mallow, ivan-da-mariau, bell, fern, calla, veronica, lungwort, gravilat, and in the swamps near them grow blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, blackberries.
Fauna
For our smaller brothers became a paradiseCentral Forest Reserve. The animals here are represented by 335 species. Mammals in the reserve have large (bears, wolves, moose, lynx, foxes, deer, wild boars, roes) and small (rodents, bats, beavers, minks, ferrets, badgers, moles, hedgehogs) - only 56 species. Amphibians (frogs, toads, newts), lizards, and snakes are also seen on the reserve. In the rivers and streams that flow through the territory of the reserve, there are 18 species of fish. But the greatest variety here, of course, birds. A total of 250 species were recorded. In branches, chubble, dandies, orioles, blackbirds, flycatchers, finches, warblers, darlings, blood beetles chirp. At night, owls and owls are sent out for hunting, and peregrine falcons, spotted eagles, golden eagles, and red-footed cocks day hunt. Ducks, woodcocks, sandpipers, cranes, herons nest near ponds. The decoration of the reserve are wood grouses, which are especially protected from poachers.
The food for most birds are insects,which in the reserve counted 600 species. Not all of their representatives are pleasant-looking and harmless, but nobody argues about the beauty of butterflies. There are 250 species here. The most spectacular are the admiral, the bluebird, mother-of-pearl, limonnitse, corner.
Sightseeing trails
The Central Forest Biosphere Reserve is pleased andkids and adults. Here for nature lovers there are several paths. Three of them are short, about a kilometer in length, but interesting. Here Baba Yaga is waiting for travelers, but not to eat them, but to arrange an examination of the nature of these places. The trails are:
- "Secrets of the forest Okovsky." A three hundred year old pine with a height of 46 meters grows, viewing platforms are installed, and the whole way is paved with boards.
- "Forest Alphabet". On this path it is interesting to study the traces of forest dwellers, samples of which are placed on tablets.
- "Staroselsky 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 marsh to feast on berries.
For adults in the reserve developed routesabout 25 km long. They lead deep into the forest and are carried out with a guide. These are the “Red Camp”, “Barsuchiha” and “Siberia”. On the routes there are cottages where you can relax, have a snack and even spend the night.
Schedule of work and prices
Reserve Central Forest in the Tver regionopen for guests all week (except Saturday and Sunday) from 10-00 am to 12-00 pm, then an hour of lunch, and again the continuation of work from 13-00 to 16-00 pm. Entrance fee is:
- age up to 10 years - 50 rubles;
- under 16 years - 75 rubles;
- adults - 150 rubles.
Accompanying the 25 km long routes cost 1000 rubles per day.
Visiting 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 borrowing room and in the hostel) and for 600 rubles in a guest house.
Transfer to the city of Nelidovo (42 km from the village Zapovedny) in one direction costs from 600 to 3000 rubles, depending on the class of the transport unit.
