Virgin Komi Forests
65.06666666666760.15Koordinaten: 65 ° 4 '0 "N, 60 ° 9' 0" E
* This name is listed on the World Heritage List. ª The region is classified by UNESCO.
The virgin forests of Komi (Russian Девственные леса Коми, Eng. Virgin Komi Forests) are located in the Northern Ural Mountains in Russia's Komi Republic. They are the largest contiguous forest area in Europe and since 1995 a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Geography
The virgin forests of Komi extend over an area of 32,800 km ² on the western slope of the northern Ural Mountains, in the north- east of the Republic of Komi. The area extends to the west across the plains of the taiga and then rises to the east as the Urals out to. The lowlands in the west of the area is located about 100 meters above sea level. In it, there are wetlands and flood plains. To the east, the terrain is undulating and passes into the foothills of the Urals. To the south of this area is the Pechora Ilytsch Nature Reserve, one covered with sand and clay forested lowland plain which is formed by glacier flows. The foothills are covered by, among others, by the springing in the Ural rivers Ilytsch, Schtschugor and Podtscherje which open to the east in the Pechora. In the damages caused by leaching of limestone karst landscape of the foothills there are numerous underground caves, craters, stone pillars and occasionally water-bearing riverbeds. The eastern boundary of the forests are the hills of the Ural mountains, where there is the highest peak of the area with the 1895 meter high Narodnaya.
History
In the 19th session of the World Heritage Committee in 1995 in Berlin, the forests were given the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The World Heritage- nominated area includes, founded in 1930 and in 1984 declared a Biosphere Reserve Nature Reserve Pechora Ilytsch ( 721.3 km ²), the National Park was created in 1994 Jugyd Wa ( 18,917 km ² ) and a 660 km ² buffer zone.
Despite being recognized as a state of the world natural heritage has been around since the 1990s by the government of the Republic of Komi efforts to use the gold-rich areas of the territory. In 2010 were released areas for the construction of open pit gold mine by a shift in the boundaries of the National Park Jugyd Wa.
Flora and Fauna
Most of the forests is covered by boreal forest, which stretches from the marsh and floodplains in the lowlands to the foothills of the Urals. The coniferous forests consist mainly of pines and Siberian larch, which grows primarily in higher elevations. In the valleys also thrive Common spruce, Siberian fir and pine trees. At higher elevations the boreal forest is being replaced by the subalpine vegetation zone, with grassland and mountain tundra. The virgin forests of Komi are the only European region in which to find the Siberian pine.
The forests are the habitat and habitat for many endangered or partly protected species such as the otter, the wolf, the European beaver, the Eurasian lynx, the wolverine and the sable. Among the known species of mammals include moose, arctic hare, marten, European flying squirrel, squirrel and brown bears. In addition to the beaver, the muskrat in the conservation area was resettled. Among the 204 known bird species, black woodpecker, willow ptarmigan, nutcrackers, three-toed woodpecker, blue tail, black grouse and capercaillie and some waterfowl species are ( among other things, Goldeneye, Goosander, Bean Goose and Widgeon ). Almost all the rivers in the jungles are used as spawning grounds for salmon. In addition to salmon, grayling and Coregonus species are among the 16 known species of fish in the area.