In 1931, they decided to create the Kivach Nature Reserve. It was founded in order to ensure the protection of the same plain waterfall, overthrown by ledges. Ecotourism lovers are often interested in: “Kivach Nature Reserve where is?".
Location
The conservation zone covered picturesque taiga plains dotted with rocky mountain ranges, lakes and swamps, cut by the ribbon of the Suna River. Ten thousand hectares in excess allocated for the reserve, spread out in the vast Kondopoga region in the Republic of Karelia.
In the north-west, eighteen kilometers from the natural park bordering the village of Sopokha, is the city of Kondopoga. The reserve is located in the Central and Spasogubsky forestry. Kivach village is the main estate of the national park.
Reserve Description
The reserve stretches along the edge of the oldest glacial depression - the synclinal fold of Lake Onega - in the place where the Quaternary glaciation worked hard on the relief. The area where the Kivach Nature Reserve spreads is represented by typical forests of taiga, swamps, large and small lakes.
A gigantic lake has left an indelible mark here, which has absorbed the meltwater of the glacier. For almost four millennia it worked on the destruction of moraines and ridges-oz. His waves rubbed tirelessly stones and sands, turning them into a microscopic suspension. The retreating lake left a rich legacy in the form of moraine ridges, not amenable to blur, uneven clay bottom. It seemed to crumble into many daughter ponds that occupied the hollows - troughs.
Rocks under the conservation zone are approaching two billion years old. Smooth mountain ranges rise above the western glacial valleys. Selghi rocks in the shape of a dome formed smooth ledges there. A bed with a crystalline wavy base plowed by glaciers is covered with moraines formed from rock fragments.
From the east and in the center the Kivach nature reserve is a plain along which two chains of sand ridges-oz stretch. The sand ridges that occupied the crevices of the vanishing glacier formed sedimentary rocks carried by powerful streams of strong taiga rivers.
Swamps of Kivach
The landscape of the natural park includes swamps. Numerous hollows became their containers. Lowland marshy areas, overgrown with cereals, herbs and near-water vegetation, feed on groundwater and replenish surface runoff.
The Kivach reserve is also rich in horseback swamps, which feed only atmospheric precipitation. They were completely covered by domes formed by sphagnum mosses interspersed with cassandra and rosemary. The swamps are so varied that there is no chance to find two identical, like twin brothers, reservoirs. The life forms and species diversity of each marshy area are unique.
Forests
The glacier disappeared, leaving land devoid of soil. Mighty cliffs proudly towered over the gloomy sandy and clayy surface of the earth, streaked with hollows with streams. It was this severity that determined the appearance of newly emerging ecosystems, rapidly occupying free pieces of space.
Climatic conditions and soils, practically devoid of humus, limited the dominance of plants in the middle taiga. The Kivach nature reserve has become the kingdom of conifers. Pine forests dominate the elevations, spruce forests have developed slopes, basins of disappeared lakes and marshy lowlands. The tops of the rocks are covered with pine forests, white-collar, in which the soil cover is formed by lichens, mosses, heather and evergreen lingonberries. The marshy areas are covered by stunted pines.
In the middle of the row, blueberry-green-moss biocenoses formed. Spruce trees crawled through clay areas. They “ran up” on a hill, forming pine-spruce stands. Spruce dominates the center of the reserve, along its lowlands and logs, getting along with a frail alder, meadowsweet and mosses, settled on bumps. In places, conifers dilute the stand of birch and aspen. Rare trees for the South Karelian lands — lindens and elms — grow in mixed forests.
Flora Nature Reserve
The vegetation of Kivach is quite rich. In its open spaces have found refuge about 600 species of plants. It settled the representatives of the arcto-alpine relics that appeared in the early postglacial period. He sheltered the immoral oak-tree "aliens."
Many typical taiga and meadow plants scattered across it. The conservation area is favored by rare species that have fallen on the pages of the Red Book. Part of the Sopokhsky forest is formed by relict trees that lived for three and a half centuries.
Fauna of Kivach
Reserved lands are an ideal arena for the livelihoods of many animals. A countless invertebrate army lives in Kivach. They process living and dead plants, sending into the soil the components necessary for the existence of herbs and trees. Representatives from this countless horde of “vegetarians” continually bite predatory invertebrates - spiders, bugs and hymenopterans.
Terrestrial vertebrates are represented in this conservation area by amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. They flocked to this land from all over the continent. Kivach - a reserve whose animals created incredible biocenoses - is unique. Here, individuals from northern and southern latitudes adjoin taiga representatives.
Periodically, the range of forest lemmings expands so much that it becomes difficult not to notice the vital activity of a taiga rodent. Typical Siberian taiga dwell here - shrews of three species and red voles. Once mammals wandered here and took root from the northern border of the forest-steppe zone and southern forests. They are represented by mice and baby mice.
The general background of the fauna is formed by common species: gray toads, woodpeckers, hares, bears, elks, lynxes, wolves and other animals. Next to them coexist "northerners" - wolverines, cuckoos and shrews, "southerners" - roe deer, orioles and wild boars.
Acclimatized individuals are also found in the reserve. Muskrats and Canadian beavers have taken root in ponds. We found nooks for raccoon dogs and American minks. Peregrine Falcons were found places for their nests.
216 bird species settled in Kivach. Its visitors were corostels and doves. Nightingales and orioles nest in taiga forest stands. Hoopoes and Kozodoi settled in nooks and crannies. Sometimes white-billed loons, geese, geese nest. Occasionally a white swan glides along the surface of the lakes. Sometimes you hear the hoot of an owl. There is something to profit from for a golden eagle and a white-tailed eagle.
Kivach waterfall
The ledges of the picturesque Kivach waterfall were formed in the Suna River. The name of the waterfall is of Finnish origin. The Finns called it nothing more than a "nod," that is, fast-moving, or powerful. The first mention of the water body dates back to 1566. Its description is found on the pages of the scribe book.
There is a parking lot near the waterfall, a souvenir shop and a cafe where guests are pampered with Finnish-Karelian buns and charcoal dishes. Nearby is a museum with interesting exhibits and an arboretum - the abode of exotic plants and Karelian birches.
The unique Kivach Nature Reserve, whose map indicates the exact routes, offers guests various excursions. Ecological trails cover all the tourist sites of the natural park. Paid excursions introduce a waterfall, dendrocollection, a museum of nature and other attractions.