State Nature Reserve "Nenets"

CONTENTS

1. Introduction.
2. Chapter I. The story of National Nature Reserve “Nenets”.
3. ChapterII.The inhabitants of the National Nature Reserve “Nenets” Conclusion.
4. Bibliography.

Introduction

The State National Reserve “Nenets” is one of the youngest parks in Russia. It was founded in 1997. It is situated in Nenets Autonomous District, in the North – Eastern part of Malozemelskaya Tundra, on the Islands in the Barents Sea.

The most important aim of the Reserve is the protection andthe study of typical ecological systems of the East European tundra and waters of the Barents Sea.

The relief of the National Reserve is flat.

The territory is lowland with numerous lakes, rivers and streams.

More than half of the territory is the Pechora Bay waters and the Barents Sea.

The climate is subarctic. The lowest temperature in winter is - 46° C. Storm is a usual thing here, and there is the snow eight months a year.

The vegetation of the reserve is presented by arctic and typical tundra.

Rare plants grow in the State National Reserve “Nenets”. They are listed in the Red Book of NAD. This is as now drop rose "a golden root", the dryad and other species.

The reserve is a home for white foxes, lemmings, foxes, stoats, hares, wolverines, elks, walruses, polar bears, white whales, sea hares.

One of the birds' migration ways goes through the Reserve, especially in summer. Swans, geese and brent-geese occur in the Red Medium (tundra) during the period of breeding and molting.

The reserve is worth visiting to learn about the severe nature of this area, or to learn rare plants.

The need to create the reserve in our area was not only increasing human impact of the exploration companies developing gas and oil companies, but also due to increasing domestic deer overgrazing, industrial activity, which pollute the territory.

That is why, the National Nature Reserve “Nenets” was formed on the territory of the Nenets Autonomous District by the Russian Federation Government Decree № 1579 in December 18, 1997. It was the first and the only reserve in this district. The first director of the Reserve was Benjamin Sergeevich Martynov.

The National Nature Reserve "Nenets" is located in Malozemelskaya tundra (Slide 2). Since ancient times this area is the place of traditional activities for Arctic Indigenous Peoples. Life and culture of the Nenets people left their imprint in the development of historical and cultural heritage of the National Nature Reserve "Nenets".

The territory of the reserve is located on the Pomors’ way to a mysterious Mangazeya (Slide 2). Many scientists and explorers contributed in the development of the territory of the Barents Sea. They werethe voyager F.P.Litke, botanists A.Shrenk, A.A.Dedov, I.A.Perfiliev and A.I.Leskov, navigator I.N.Ivanov and others. They described the results of their research in many books.

The fauna ofthe National Nature Reserve “Nenets” refers to the tundra zone and it is characterized by species inhabiting this territory in harsh environmental conditions.

The National Nature Reserve "Nenets" belongs to the zone of low temperate and cold climate of the Arctic. Cold climate is characterized by rare sunny days.

In the reserve there are 27 species of mammals, 125 species of birds, 42 species of fish, 111species of spiders,105 species of insects.

Polar Fox

Fox (polar fox) is nota large vermin. We know white fox and blue fox. White fox is grey-brown in summer, white - in winter. Blue Fox is smoke - grey in summer and in winter. Polar foxes are found in the tundra and in the forest-tundra of Eurasia and North America. Polar foxeseat everything. Its food is 125 species of animals and 25 species of plants, lemmings, fish and berries. Polar foxes roam on drifting ice looking for food in January (Slide 3).

Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan is a very beautiful bird. In summer this bird has colorful plumage, with a predominance of reddish tones. In the winter it's snow white. Winter feathers are longer. Its food is berries, leaves of plants. Their nest is located on the ground under cover of grass or under small single branches of bushes. Winter is a difficult time for ptarmigan, because snow covers the berries, and in the mountains snow covers stunted birch and willow. There are flocks of ptarmigans in bushes in February. They hide in deep snow, escaping from the cold winds (Slide 4).

It is listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Reindeer

The reindeer has elongated squat body (its length is 180-220 cm, its height is 100-140 cm). The reindeer is brown in summer, and it is grey in winter. They have very beautiful horns. They are very long. At the ends of the horns there are small triangular shovels with spikes. Reindeer is now preserved in the west of the Kola Peninsula, Karelia, north-east of European Russia, the Urals, Siberia, Northern Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Chukotka. It lives in the plains, in the mountain tundra and in the taiga. Tundra reindeer migrate to the northern taiga in winter. During migration, the deer followed by the same way, swimming across the river and the sea passages in certain places. They are followed by wolves and wolverines. Reindeer come back to summer grasslands in March (Slide 5). In summer they are on the Arctic coast, where it is cooler. It eats grass, leaves, berries and mushrooms, rodents, chicks and eggs of birds. Domestic reindeer are found in many areas of Siberia and in the tundra. Skins, meat, veins of reindeer are irreplaceable in the economy of the North. (Slide 4)

Novaya Zemlya and the Altai-Sayan subspecies are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Snow bunting

Snow bunting is a small light colored bird. A male is white, it is reddish in autumn, in summer its back is black. There is a dark grey stripe on the shoulder. The middle of the tail is black. A female’ stop is grey, its bottom is off-white. They live in the dry rocky tundra. Its food is seeds and insects.I t nests on the ground in a comfortable rock streams and other shelters. Normally it flies low to the ground. Snow buntings’ nest is typically built in the rocks or stones. The appearance of snow buntings is the first evidence of spring (Slide 6). In summer snow buntings eat insects, berries.

Small tundra swan

Small tundra swan is one of thousands of birds coming back to the breeding sites in May (Slide 7). Small tundra swan is very similar to hooping, but it has shorter body. Small swan’s weight is about 5-6 kg. Small tundra swan is black and yellow. Small tundra swan is found only on the territory of Russia, in the tundra of the European and Asian parts of the country. Swan prefers open areas of water. Small swans eat plants: grass, berries, potatoes and beets and small fish.

Blue hare

White hare is not a very big animal. The largest hare lives in the tundra of Western Siberia, the smallest lives in Yakutia and in the Far East. Its ears are long. The tail is usually white, short and rounded.

Hare lives in the tundra, in the forest-steppe zone and a part of Northern Europe, Russia, Siberia, Kazakhstan and Far East.The white hare lives in the lands, providing him food and protection.

The molting period of blue hare ends in June (Slide 8). It migrates in summer when there is a lot of food and it is easy to move around. We can’t see it in the forest area. The length of the migration way is sometimes hundreds of kilometers. Spring migration is shorter than in autumn. The white hare is more active in the early morning and in the early evening hours. In spring and summer, It eats the green parts of plants and fruits of blueberries, mushrooms. The white hare lives from 7 to 17 years. The white hare is an important object of sport hunting and trapping.

Bean Goose

Bean goose looks like a grey goose, but its head and neck is darker. The back and upper tail are dark brown, with an orange beak black transverse stripe, legs are orange-pink. It lives near the lakes, swamps, river valleys with bushes, along the banks of water bodies, in the fields and in the steppe. We can see them in the tundra and in the forest-tundra zone of Eurasia, in Central Siberia and in the Far East. Bean goose hibernates in Central Europe from late September to early May. It is one of the hunting species, especially in the North. Bean goose is one of the earliest migratory birds. In March it comes back to their home country, flying in the river valleys to the north. As soon as the geese fly home, they start building a nest. They choose the place for their nests in the higher tundra areas, freed from the spring melt water. July is the time of bean goose’s posterity appearance (Slide 9).

Atlantic walrus

Atlantic walrus is the only modern form of the family of walrus. Adult walrus is easily recognizable by its prominent tusks. Adult males in the Pacific Ocean can weigh more than 1,700 kg. Large sea animal has a very thick skin. The upper canines are extremely developed, elongated and pointing down. It has no ears, its eyes are small. Walrus tusks are used to hold the edge of the ice-hole. The most prominent feature is its long walrus tusks. Walrus skin is very wrinkled and thick, up to 10 cm in the neck and shoulders of males. Walruses spend more time on the summer rookeries in August (Slide 10).

Atlantic walrus was almost destroyed as a result of uncontrolled commercial fishing and the size of the population it is much lower. Commercial production of walruses is now prohibited by law in all countries.

At the moment, Atlantic walrus is listed in the Red Book of  Russia.

September is the time when we can enjoy the gifts of the forests and the tundra (Slide 11).

Barnacle Goose

Barnacle Goose is a small kind of goose family. It is small elegant bird, it’s length is about 70 cm. Barnacle geese try to keep flocks. They are not very careful and very flashy. Their raucous cry resembles a dog barking. It inhabits rocky cliffs and steep slopes, interspersed with slides coated with lush vegetation. The last migrant birds - barnacle geese - fly away to the places of wintering to the countries of Europe and Africa in October (Slide 12).

House Sparrow

Twenty kinds of birds stay on wintering in NAO. For example, house sparrows are the hardiest birds (Slide 13).House sparrow is the most famous bird in Russia. Its weight is 28-37 g. Sparrow body’s length is 14-18 cm. Male house sparrow is more brightly colored than the female. On the head of the male there is a grey cap, the breast and neck is black, cheeks and belly are white and there are white stripes on the shoulders. The back is full of dark spots. The tail and wings are brown. House sparrow occurs in all parts of the world.

Polar bear

Polar bear, or northern bear, is a close relative of the brown bear.  Polar bear is one of the largest land mammals. Its length is 3 m. It weights up to 1 t. The smallest bears are found on Spitsbergen, the largest are in the Bering Sea. It lives in the Polar Regions. It lives on drifting and land fast sea ice, where it hunts their main prey: ringed seal, bearded seal, walrus and other marine animals. December is the time of birth of polar bears’ posterity (Slide 14).

In Russia, bear hunting is completely prohibited in 1956, in other countries (USA, Canada and Greenland) is limited. It listed in the Red Book of Russia. In Russia, there are 5-7 thousand polar bears.

Conclusion

Today National Nature Reserve "Nenets" is an environmental, scientificre search and environmental education institution.

The tasks, facing residents of this territory, every one of us are:

• To preserve the beauty of these places, provide the necessary attention and support;
• To draw attention to the area as a place for the organization of educational eco-tourism, because everything begins with a small country.

Bibliograpy

1. The calendar, devoted to the 15^th anniversary of National Nature Reserve “Nenets” (2012):
• layout and design: Korobka Elena Anatolyevna;
• photo: archive of National Nature Reserve “Nenets”.
2. Text: www.domovest.ru/primet.html; www.primets.narod.ru
3. The Russian Federation Government Decree № 1579, the 18^th of December, 1997 about the formation of the Federal State Institution "State Nature Reserve"Nenets".
4. Regulations on the Federal State Institution "State natural reserve "Nenets" approved by order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia on the 17^th of February, 2004 № 152 (with changes, approved by the order of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources on the 17^th of March, 2005 № 66 and by orders Ministry of Nature of Russia.
5. http://www.zapoved.ru.
6. The Red Book of Russia.
7. The Red Book of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug.