Losiny Ostrov National Park

The National Park Losiny (Russian Национальный парк Лосиный Остров; German Elk Island National Park ) is a national park in Russia. It is located on the northeastern outskirts of Moscow and is also the largest contiguous forest in the Russian capital.

Location and description

The forest area of Losiny Park covers an area of ​​over 120 sq km from the residential areas of the Eastern and North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow far beyond the city limits and direction Mytischtschi Korolev. Exactly where the National Park exceeds the city limits of Moscow, he is cut from the ring road MKAD. The national park covers about 85 percent of forest land, the rest is split between water surfaces ( two percent), wetlands ( five percent) and reserve land for a possible expansion of the national park. At the Moscow metropolitan area is approximately one-third of the total area of the park, the rest belongs to the Moscow Oblast.

Geographically Lossiny Ostrow is one of the northwestern foothills of the Meschtschora Great Plain, which extends over large parts of the eastern Moscow Oblast. The height of the area is 146 to 175 meters above sea level. By Losiny Jausa the river, which also arises from there flows.

About 26 percent of the area of the national park, which is mainly associated with the Moscow part, are officially classified as a recreational area and must be fully entered. In a further 27 per cent only entering specially designated routes is allowed, while the remaining 47 percent in the central region of the park represent a so-called Sapowednik, that is a particularly strictly protected nature reserve that may be entered only by guided tour.

History

The forest areas of Losiny provide practically the only still remaining primeval forests in Moscow and the immediate vicinity dar. Still tsarist times was this place as a popular hunting trip territory of the Moscow nobility; in its vicinity - namely in the former village and now a district Sokolniki, is also part of the park to the foothills Lossiny Ostrows - falconry was operated under the Tsar Alexei I.. In 1799, parts of the forest area were put under protection, the first forester was there in 1842. Since the beginning of the 20th century there were plans to create a national park out of this forest, but they were of the October Revolution, the Civil War and later the Second World War displaced. It was not until in the 1970s, an official protected status, first in 1979 as a natural park, since in 1983, as a national park. This Losiny also became the first national park in Russia.

Flora and Fauna

The forest areas of the National Park Losiny represent essentially a mixed forest, and in the core area of ​​the park, especially spruce and birch trees grow together with lime, while the eastern part of the park is dominated by pine forests. In total there are to be found some 600 plant species in Lossiny Ostrow, a number of which stands on the Russian Red List. In the area of ​​Jausa source there are many wetlands.

The fauna of the national park is diverse with over 40 species of mammals, where the rarest species live mainly in the protected area of ​​the park. These include the eponymous for the National Park elk, also fallow deer, wild boar, badger, ermine, beaver, mink, and other animals that have remained partly otherwise get nowhere in the vicinity of Moscow. To the fauna of Losiny also a rich bird life with around 125 breeding and 170 species of migratory birds.