The banal slogans urging to protect nature have recently acquired an actual meaning. Human activities on earth turned out to be too active: air is poisoned by enterprises and car exhaust, water bodies are polluted, many animals, fish, birds and plants are in danger of extinction. Therefore, people are forced to resort to the letter of the law, creating various lists, thanks to which it is not allowed to destroy a particular natural species. Such a list is the Red Book.
What is the Red Book?
The idea of creating this book appeared in 1948. It was created on the initiative of the scientific community, which began to sound the alarm due to the increasing cases of extinction of populations of living organisms. The Conservation Union printed out an alarming list and sent it to world leaders. Why did they choose the red color?
In fact, everything is simple: it is an alarming shade, and at the same time, the color of life. Therefore, the Red Book is designed to attract public attention. Interestingly, it is not completely red: it has pages of different colors:
- The black. The most tragic pages are painted in the color of mourning. Those animals or plants that are recorded on them are never destined to be seen again. These are forever extinct species.
- Green. The most cheerful sheets: they are the species that managed to revive and save.
- Red. Pages of this color indicate species that are threatened with extinction.
- White. Rare forms of flora and fauna are represented here.
- Gray. Inadequately studied species are gathered on gray pages.
- Yellow. Color draws attention to rapidly declining populations.
In addition to international and national lists, there are also regional ones. The Red Book of Karelia belongs to such.
Karelia: endangered species
The nature of the Republic of Karelia is in many ways unique and amazing. Such wealth simply needs to be taken under the protection of the state, so scientists have developed such an extensive publication as the Red Book of Karelia. Animals, representatives of the flora, fish and birds located on its pages are in dire need of the care of man. This useful book has been reprinted three times. It was first published in 1985.
It included 160 species of vascular plants, more than 30 species of insects and vertebrates, as well as 22 species of various mushrooms. In the second edition of 1995, information expanded somewhat. The Red Book of Karelia included 390 items reserved for plants, among which were mosses, mushrooms and lichens. Also included were insects, mollusks, birds, mammals and amphibians: a total of 365 species. The most complete was the third edition, published in 2008 according to all the rules for compiling lists of this kind.
Plants of Karelia
For this region, the Red Book of Karelia turned out to be a very important publication, thoroughly developed by local scientists. The plants that settled on its pages are really in dire need of protection at the state level. These are ferns (aspleniums, clumps, shchitovniki), wild orchids (venus slipper, leafless corpuscles, two species of dormant), several types of medicinal plants. Also, decorative species, such as the cirrus and alpine circebitus, Siberian aster and buttercup anemone, were also not ignored. Marsh plants are also included in this list, for example, an intermediate sundew and caulinia. Types of shrubs and trees that are on the verge of extinction are recorded on the pages of this book: Karelian birch, hazel, cotoneaster.
Some plants are worth mentioning separately. Unfortunately, people admitted that such a useful species as Hypericum perforatum began to disappear. This medicinal plant is recognized by both folk and traditional medicine. It has the following useful properties: it perfectly anesthetizes, relieves spasms, restores blood loss, heals wounds, tones and soothes. Even in antiquity they were treated with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and kidneys. Also, St. John's wort infusion is used for coughing and rheumatism. But you need to be careful, since the upper stems of the plant are poisonous, so you should consult your doctor before use.
This is a small fragment from the wealth that contains the Red Book of Karelia. Plants such as Rhodiola rosea, also called the golden root, are truly worth its weight in gold. If used correctly, then Rhodiola can have a beneficial effect on the whole body. It especially affects the intellectual abilities of a person, his memory. Antihistamines and antipyretic properties of this plant were also noted.
In addition to medicinal plants, it is worth noting the rarest orchid that prefers moist and dark places - cypridine slipper. As they just didn’t call it: Venus, Maryin or Kukushkin slipper, Bogoroditsin boot, moccasin (in America), ladies shoe (in England). In Karelia, it grows exclusively in the Kivach reserve. It is noteworthy that this orchid blooms for almost a month.
Protection of mushroom stocks
What else is protected by the Red Book of Karelia? Mushrooms, of which there are about 100 species in the republic, also need protection. For example, a white aspen is listed in the guard list. This edible mushroom grows in national parks and reserves of Karelia. The aspen fruit does not bear fruit annually.
A bright purple mushroom called purple rowan is also edible. He loves heaps of brushwood and piles of straw. The mushroom is quite large and reaches 20 centimeters around the circumference of the cap.
A very rare species is the
Polish mushroom. This handsome man can be eaten, but he is so rare that he is not allowed to collect it. It grows only in the Kivach nature reserve.
Another type of mushroom is the cobweb violet. Food lovers consider it a delicacy. It is extremely rare, and the people gave it the name "boggle man".
The last one we recall in this opus is the inedible mushroom morel cap. The name is pretty accurate: the mushroom is really similar to the morel family.
Silent bird voices
Unfortunately, the Red Book of Karelia is rich and diverse. Birds, of course, also live on its pages. Black grouse, gray-haired owl, some species of swans, bluetail and curlew are listed not only in the alarming book of Karelia, but also in all-Russian and even world lists.
A kilogram sandpiper, called Curlew, is the largest among the fauna of Russia. It can be distinguished by a curved beak of considerable length. In the spring of his whistling songs are carried far enough away.
A large bearded owl is also listed in the Red Book of Karelia. The wingspan is one and a half meters, and weight - up to a kilogram. This bird is sometimes confused with an eagle owl, but their lifestyle is different: an eagle owl is a nocturnal bird, while the owl is awake during daylight hours. The size of the population varies depending on the abundance of rodents. The bird is included in several conservation lists.
Capercaillie is a beautiful, majestic bird. He is the only one fully adapted perfectly to the northern climate, especially to cold winters. The male capercaillie is truly gigantic in size, weighing 6.5 kilograms. The female is half smaller and does not differ in the brightness of the plumage. This representative of chicken eats cones and pine needles in winter, and even lizards can eat in summer. In flight, the capercaillie is rather clumsy. The meat of this giant is very useful, so some hunters exterminate the bird without measure. That is why the Red Book of Karelia has replenished with such representatives of the feathered squad as capercaillie.
Karelian fish
The reservoirs of Karelia are densely populated by inhabitants, but 28 fish species are endangered. For such groups of inhabitants of rivers and lakes, the Red Book of Karelia is simply necessary. Fish such families as salmon, sturgeon, whitefish, cyprinidae, catfish, loach are included in the list of mandatory protection.
Their mass capture led to catastrophic consequences: sturgeon, sterlet, lake salmon, nelma, whitefish, tench, sabrefish, plucking and catfish were on the verge of extinction. These most valuable species of fish could disappear forever from the reservoirs of Karelia, if they were not taken in time by the state.
Animal world
Many representatives of the fauna are contained in the Red Book of Karelia. Animals of this region are known to all for documentaries and feature films, but if you do not stop shooting them, then human irresponsibility will lead to their complete disappearance. For example, reindeer. This beautiful animal horn has representatives of both sexes. And he is also famous for the fact that in the heart of a deer there is a bone, the purpose of which is still unknown. These nomads from the wild live in herds of up to 15 individuals. And in winter they can migrate in groups of 100 deer. Beautiful ungulates, living up to 25 years old, like to settle in swamps, in forests with moss litter, river meadows. At the moment, the population lives in two national parks and Kostomuksha state reserve.
On the territory of Karelian reserves and parks there lives the only living representative of the genus "glutton", that is the name Gulo - Wolverine. The Red Book of the Karelian Republic could not but replenish with such a colorful, but unfortunately, disappearing character. This lone beast is very careful and strong. A rather massive animal resembles a large badger or bear. It has a thick, coarse coat, sharp claws and powerful teeth. The weight of the beast reaches 18 kilograms. If a den is found in a secluded place or under the roots of a tree, you can be sure that the wolverine lives there.
The Red Book is not just a guard list. This is a reminder to mankind how many beautiful animals, birds and fish gave us nature. Unforgivable stupidity and wastefulness would be to lose all this. After all, each link in nature has its own purpose. Wolverine, for example, because of its omnivorous nature plays the role of a forest orderly, eating carrion.
Another inhabitant of the Karelian forests is lynx. Almost everyone knows what this big cat looks like, but its habits deserve special attention. A large and graceful beast simply adores dark cluttered forests, perfectly floats and climbs trees. If food is not enough, then lynxes can embark on long wanderings, in this way they got to Kamchatka. Her attack tactics are insidiously expectant, and not the same as most people used to think: she does not attack by jumping on a victim from a tree. In winter, when the snow is very deep, a lynx can even defeat a female wapiti. For many years it was believed that the lynx should be exterminated as a dangerous predator (and the fur of a beast of considerable value), but after a while it became clear: the animal plays a huge role in the biocenosis, so the state is simply obligated to protect lynxes.
Among other things, the Red Book of Karelia contains on its colorful pages such rare fauna representatives as flying squirrel, fox, brown bear, ermine, white hare, weasel, marten and elk.
What is the value of a guard list?
The Red Book is a document of national importance. But he only warns people about species that are disappearing. The next stage of protection is the creation of national parks and reserves. It was such measures that helped to protect many species of birds, animals and plants from extermination. It is also necessary to create reserves: protected areas for breeding a certain species of representatives of fauna or flora. The use of such measures allowed to contain the anthropogenic factor, seriously threatening the nature of the planet.