Russian national parks
If you've thought that only countries like the US, Australia, or Canada have national parks that protect a diverse array of environments, then think again. The world's largest country may mostly be covered in ice, snow, and Arctic wilderness, but even within these landscapes lie a diverse range of different environments, ecosystems, and wildlife – perhaps you might not have known that the all-famous Siberian tiger only lives in the Russian Far East.
Understand
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National parks in Russia are quite a new thing; in fact, the first national parks were only established in the 1960s when a bunch of Soviet scientists went to the US, visiting Yellowstone and the Great Smoky Mountains; impressed by the US' national park system, it eventually kickstarted the Soviet Union's conservation movement.
Though the Soviet Union's conservation movement started in the 1960s, the areas that were protected weren't "national parks", these were nature reserves. It was not until 1983 when what is now Russia's first national parks were declared: Sochi National Park and Losiny Ostrov National Park. After the two were established, several others followed suit; Samarskaya Luka National Park was established in 1984, Mariy Chodra National Park in 1985, and several others in 1986.
Though the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, that did not stop more the establishment of more national parks – both before and after the collapse. In fact, many national parks were actually established during those two years, with many more national parks declared ever since.
Today, Russia's 64 national parks protect over 155,672 km2 (60,105 sq mi) of Russia and that's not including other nature reserves. For comparison, that's more than the area of Iceland and Switzerland combined; if you paid attention in geography lessons, you would know that both these countries are very vast and remote.
Get in
[edit]Fees and permits
[edit]Get around
[edit]National parks
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- 14 Chuvash Forest National Park
(Chavash Varmane Bor National Park)
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Though Crimea remains a subject of tension between Ukraine and Russia, it is currently under de facto Russian control. |
- 15 Tarkhankut National Park (Russian name) / Charming Harbo(u)r National Nature Park (Ukrainian name)
- 17 Pribaikalsky National Park – nestled quietly along the southwest banks of Lake Baikal, it's one of those underrated hidden gems that surprisingly doesn't get crowded (the park only receives about 400k visitors annually)
- 21 Kalevalsky National Park
- 22 Ladoga Skerries National Park
- 23 Paanajärvi National Park – borders Oulanka National Park in neighboring Finland
- 30 Krasnoyarsk Stolby National Park –––––– ru.voy guide
- 31 Shushensky Bor National Park
- 46 Buzuluksky Bor National Park (partially in Orenburg Oblast)
- 47 Samarskaya Luka National Park
- 56 Sengiley Hills National Park (Sengileevskie Mountains National Park)