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Established: 1992
Size: 18,533 ha (185 km2)
Buffer Zone: 1935 ha (19.35 km2)
Contact information:
Fedoseev, Sergey Vasilevich, Director
Russia 249720, Kaluzhskaya oblast, s. Ulyanovo,
ul. B. Sovetskaya, 75
Tel: (7-084-43) 1-19-32
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 "A
crisp, clear fall day, with frost in the morning, when a birch,
like a tree from a fairy tale, all gold, is beautifully drawn upon
a pale blue sky, when the low sun no longer warms, but shines more
brightly than in summer, a small grove of aspens sparkles throughout,
as though pleased and comfortable to stand naked; hoarfrost still
shines white upon the valley floor, and a fresh wind lightly chases
and stirs through the fallen and crumpled leaves…" Ivan
Turgenev, the famed author of A Hunter’s Sketches, was well
acquainted with the forests of the Kaluga region where he lived.
Centuries ago, they were part of a wide swath of deciduous forests
south of Moscow so dense and impenetrable that they formed a natural
protective barrier against invasions from the southern grasslands.
Exactly for this reason these virgin forests were protected from
logging for several centuries, preserving not only the trees but
also the wealth of other plants and animals – moose, deer,
wolves, wild boar, beaver, and others – that took shelter in
the forest. Today only one of these tracts of old-growth broadleaf
forests is protected in an official nature reserve, the Kaluzhsky
Zaseki Zapovednik.
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Photo ©
2001 Igor
Shpilenok
Zapovednik Images
Zapovednik Facts
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Kaluzhsky Zapovednik in
Russian Conservation
News
journal:
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Zapovednik
Facts:
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Animals
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The true value of the Kaluzhsky Zaseki Zapovednik lies not in
its history or in its individual trees, but in the complex of
plant and animal life that the reserve supports. Although hunting,
fishing, and human influence in general have depleted populations
of wild animals in the surrounding region, the forests of the
zapovednik teem with animals. Large ungulates such as moose (Alces
alces), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and the red
deer (Cervus elaphus), a cousin of the American elk, are
common in the reserve. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) dig up the
ground in search of food, leaving behind telltale heaps of soil
and snow. Zapovednik staff once had plans to reintroduce the endangered
European bison (Bison bonasus) into the area, but last
year a herd of 13 animals living in the neighboring Orlovskoe
Polesie National Park wandered into the zapovednik of their own
accord.
The abundance of available prey keeps the zapovednik’s wolves
(Canis lupus) from leaving the reserve’s borders to
local farms and villages in search of food. Lynx (Felis lynx),
foxes (Vulpes vulpes), European badgers (Meles meles),
and raccoons (Nystereutes procyonoides) similarly find
ample food among the reserve’s smaller animals, such as voles
and other rodents. Other predators in the zapovednik include several
members of the weasel family, including martens (Martes martes),
ermine (Mustela erminea) and mink (Mustela lutreola).
Although forests cover about 95 percent of the zapovednik’s
territory, a significant population of beavers (Casta fiber)
takes advantage of the small streams that flow through the reserve,
as do muskrats (Ondatra libethica) and river otters (Lutra
lutra). Scientists have not yet completed an inventory of
the fish that swim through these waters, but have already identified
22 species, including the endangered bullhead (Cottus gobio).
At least nine species of amphibians and five species of reptiles
also live in the reserve.
Avian life brings yet another dimension to the color of the forests.
"And how lovely the forest is in late autumn," writes
Turgenev, "When the woodcocks return! They don’t keep
to the deepest parts of the woods, so you have to search for them
along the edges. There’s the motion of the wind, but not
a sound; the light air is filled with the perfume of fall, like
the scent of wine." The zapovednik hosts a number of birds
in the woodcock family, including the common snipe (Gallinago
gallinago), great snipe (Gallinago media), and curlew
(Numenius arquata). The white stork and endangered black
stork (Ciconia ciconia, C. nigra) are also found in the
reserve, along with the grey heron (Ardea cinerea) and
common crane (Grus grus).
The Kaluzhsky Zaseki Zapovednik plays a particular role in preserving
endangered species of birds of prey. The greater and lesser spotted
eagles (Aquila clanga, A. Pomarina), as well as the short-toed
eagle (Circaetus gallicus) and peregrine falcon (Falco
peregrinus) are all listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian
Federation. Locally endangered birds of prey include the marsh
hawk (Circus cyaneus), marsh harrier (C. Cyaneus),
black kite (Milvus migrans), goshawk (Accipiter gentilis),
rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus), and booted eagle (Hieraaetus
pennatus). In all, scientists have recorded 167 different
species of birds in the zapovednik.
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Vegetation
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The zapovednik marks the northernmost edge of the band of broadleaf
forests that stretches through Russia. In the old-growth deciduous
forests in the southern section of the reserve, pedunculate oaks
(Quercus robur) dominate, including individual trees that
date to the time of Peter the Great. Scotch elms (Ulmus scabra),
small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata), common ash (Fraxinus
excelsior), various birches (Betula sp.), Norway and
common maple (Acer platanoides, A. campestre) are also
common in these forests, giving the woods particular beauty in
fall, when each tree turns a different shade of brown, yellow,
or red.
Although old-growth broadleaf forests are the pride of the Kaluzhsky
Zaseki Zapovednik, they cover only a fourth of the reserve’s
territory. Despite various measures of protection over the centuries,
logging has affected several regions of the zapovednik, replacing
oak forests with younger stands of aspens (Populus tremula)
and willows (Salix sp.). Nonetheless, given the lack of
cutting during the past decade, natural succession processes have
begun, leading the broadleaf forests native to the region to regenerate
naturally: the understories of these aspen and willow stands are
filled with young oaks and other broadleaf species.
In the northern section of the reserve, beyond the range of a
number of broadleaf trees, coniferous forests dominate. Stands
of spruces (Picea sp.) and pines (Pinus sp.) tentatively
point the way to the great northern taiga.
A diversity of plant life also grows on the forest floor. When
the snows melt in the spring, the long-rooted onion (Allium
ursinum), a locally endangered species, rises out of the soil
and into bloom all across the forest floor. Ferns (Filicales
sp.) uncoil their tender, light green leaves, and mezereon shrubs
(Daphne mezereum) sprout bright pink flowers. By late spring,
fields of delicate white lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis)
fill the forest with their heavy perfume. The flowers of the rare
early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula), perennial honesty
(Lunaria redivia), and Siberian iris (Iris sibirica)
stand out upon the green background of the forest. With abundant
rainfall common during spring, summer, and fall, the zapovednik’s
189 species of mushrooms — including seven that are listed
in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation — develop
colonies rapidly on the ground and along tree trunks.
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Geographical
Features
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The Kaluzhsky Zaseki Zapovednik is located in the Central Russian
Uplands about 250 kilometers southwest of Moscow. Its two sections,
northern and southern, are spaced 12 kilometers from one another
in the Ulyanovksy Region of the Kaluzhskaya Oblast. This location
places the reserve just north of the vast steppe region of southern
Russia at the edge of the great northern forests.
Glaciers covered the region during the last ice age, leaving
the landscape flat with characteristic moraines and gentle hills.
Because the reserve is located near the border of various natural
zones, its soils are diverse, ranging from those characteristic
of the northern taiga to brown forest soils to the black earth
of the southern steppe region. Much of the forest lies on swampy
ground, and eight streams flow through the zapovednik, ultimately
falling into the Oka River, which in turn flows east into the
Volga. In the southern section of the zapovednik, beavers have
created an artificial pond by damming one of these streams.
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Conservation
Status
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Russian history has played a particular role in preserving the
forests of the Kaluzhsky Zaseki Zapovednik. As early as the 8th
and 9th centuries Slavic people began settling in the
forested regions beyond the Dnepr River. Using the trees for construction
and firewood and practicing slash-and-burn agriculture, they razed
many forests to the ground. Nonetheless, they made a special point
of preserving and protecting the dense broadleaf forests that
bordered the southern grasslands because they formed a natural
defense against the horse-riding nomads of the steppes.
In subsequent centuries, local princes strengthened the defensive
value of the forests. Together with ramparts, moats, and barricades
of felled trees — in Russian ‘zaseki’ —
the forests formed a defensive complex so strictly protected that
all logging was forbidden and even visitors were barred from traveling
through the forests.
As the borders of Russia expanded southward and the threat of
invasion subsided towards the end of the 17th century,
the forests lost their military importance, and as a result, their
special protected status. Although Russian rulers recognized the
need to preserve and restore forests, the growing economy demanded
increased timber for factories and industries. Over the next three
centuries, the forests of the Kaluzhsky Zaseki were maintained
but subjected to logging and replanting. Nonetheless, due to the
absence of clear-cutting, individual trees more than 300 years
old have remained untouched to this day.
In the mid-1980s, a duo of scientists studying the forests of
the Kaluzhskaya Oblast happened upon a tract of nearly undisturbed
broadleaf forest. This old-growth forest was so deeply hidden
in the middle of a younger forest that it had been left virtually
untouched. In 1992, on the basis of these scientists’ recommendations,
the Kaluzhsky Zaseki Zapovednik was founded. Since that time,
its small staff has been actively pursuing the reserve’s
conservation and scientific mission. In the course of this work,
it also directs special attention to the region’s children,
holding special events and camps to interest them in nature protection.
Two neighboring national parks, Orlovskoe Polesie to the south
and Ugra to the north, founded in 1994 and 1997 help support the
work of the zapovednik.
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References
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Evaluation and Preservation of the Biodiversity of the Forest
Cover in the Zapovedniks of European Russia. L.B. Zaugolrnova,
ed. Moscow: Nauchny mir, 2000.
Maxim Bobovski, "Kaluzhskie Zaseki Zapovednik: A History
of Ancient Forests and People." Russian Conservation News
No. 17 (Fall) 1998, pp. 9-10.
Zapovedniks and National Parks of Russia. Moscow: Logata,
1998.
Additional materials and interviews provided by the zapovednik
staff.
Text by Lisa Woodson.
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