Pinezhsky Nature Reserve

Pinezhsky Nature Reserve
IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve)
Golubino cave, Pinezhsky
Location	Russia
Nearest city	Arkhangelsk
Coordinates	64°42′N 43°12′E / 64.700°N 43.200°E / 64.700; 43.200Coordinates: 64°42′N 43°12′E / 64.700°N 43.200°E / 64.700; 43.200
Area	515.22 km²
Established	1974
Governing body	Department of hunting of the administration of Arkhangelsk Oblast

Pinega Nature Reserve (Russian: Пинежский заповедник, Pinezhsky Zapovednik) is a nature reserve (a zapovednik) in the north of Russia, located in Pinezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 150 km due east of the city of Arkhangelsk. The reserve is on the right bank of the Pinega River and on both banks of the Sotka River, the source of the Kuloy River. It was established August 20, 1974. The nature reserve is created to protect the karst landscapes and the coniferous forests (taiga) of the Northern Russia.

The area of the nature reserve is elongated from north to south. The south-eastern border runs parallel to the course of the Pinega at the distance of several kilometers from the riverbed, approximately between the villages of Valdokurye and Pelino. The southern part of the nature reserve belongs to the Belaya River, a tributary of the Pinega. The northern part is crossed from the west to the east by the Sotka River.

Pinezhsky Nature Reserve protects three types of landscapes: swampy flatland (in the western part, on the divide between the Kuloy and the Pinega river basins); hilly plateau (which is the south-eastern part of the White Sea - Kuloy Plateau which rises to the east of the Dvina Bay), and the karst landscapes. Whereas the first two are somehow typical for Arkhangelsk Oblast, the karst is unique. There are such dinstinctive features of the karst as caves (more than 500 in the reserve limits), ravines (some of them up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long), and lakes.There are 83 lakes in the Reserve, and most of them are karst lakes. Two of the creeks vanish below the earth, with one of them, the Karyala, reappearing after 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) at the side of a ravine.

There are 480 plant species in the Reserve, some of which are endemic for North-East of the European Russia. The reserve is mostly covered by forests, which are siberian fir (72.5%), pine (16%), birch (7%) and larch (4.6%). Most of the birch forests occupy the area where the woods previously burnt down or were cut down. Minor areas, mostly in floodplains, are occupied by meadows.