Planned landscape reserve "Jangozero" (Pudozhskij region, the Republic of Karelia)
Territory of planned reserve "Jangozero" (24000 ha) is a part of Europe's largest intact middle taiga forest area - basin of Ileksa river (with a total area of about 400 thousands hectares) which includes areas of NP «Vodlozerskij», planned reserves «Jangozero» and «Chukozero» and other unprotected from logging operations areas in Karelia and Arkhangelsk region.
On "Jangozero" territory there is part of Belomoro-Baltic watershed (the watershed between Arctic and Atlantic oceans) dividing basins of two major water systems: Vyg river and Vygozero lake (White sea basin) and Ileksa river and Vodlozero lake (the basin of Onega lake, which is included in catchment area of Baltic sea).
The preservation of intact forest and forest-bog ecosystems of "Jangozero" territory is of international importance and high priority of establishing protected areas in the Republic of Karelia and the North-West of Russia.
There are many rare species of plants and animals listed in the Red book of Karelia on the territory of planned nature reserve, for example: orchid Dactylorhiza traunsteineri*, mushrooms Leptoporus mollis and Hericium coralloides, lichens Bryoria fremontii*, Bryoria nadvornikiana, Evernia divaricata, Brodoa intestiniformis, Ramalina dilacerate, insects Boros schneideri, Saperda carcharias, Papilio machaon, predators Gulo gulo and Mustela nivalis, rodent Pteromys volans, birds Aquila chrysaetos* and Strix nebulosa.
* - species is also listed in the Red Book of Russian Federation.
The territory was proposed for conservation of public conservation organization "SPOK" in 2007 on the basis of intact forests maps 2000, 2001, 2007 years http://hcvf.net/data/karelia/Karelia-v4.pdf
In 2008, "SPOK" conducted scientific expedition to planned reserve territory. As a result in 2009 “Scientific substantiation of planned landscape reserve "Jangozero"” and project of Provision about regional significance landscape reserve "Jangozero" were developed and submitted to the relevant Republican Ministry.
Photos are from the archive of KRPO «SPOK» (ngospok@gmail.com).
