Yelnia

The Site consists of a complex of raised bogs and transition mires encompassing over 100 lakes and small mineral islands covered with small-leafed and spruce forests. The boundaries of the Ramsar Site were aligned in 2016 with the boundaries of the Yelnia Republican Landscape Reserve, leading to an increase of 2,100 hectares. The Site holds one of the largest raised bogs in Europe, which is also representative of the near-natural bogs of the Belarusian Lake District. The Site provides key habitats for a number of stenotopic species associated with raised bogs and is also important for a number of glacial flora and fauna relicts. The large bog and adjacent farmland provide important staging areas and foraging grounds during migration for over 20,000 waterbirds, including more than 1% of the biogeographic population of the common crane Grus grus and the globally threatened greater white-fronted goose Anser albifrons. More than 15 rivers originate from the Site, and it exerts a significant influence on the hydrological regime and microclimate of the region and acts as a biofilter of anthropogenic pollutants. Due to its inaccessibility, human activities are limited to berry-picking, angling, and hunting, and also forestry on the periphery. There is a visitor centre, ecological trail and observation tower, and guided tours and excursions are organized for individuals and groups. A management plan has been prepared and the priority measures implemented; for example, drainage of the bog and adjacent areas had disturbed the hydrological regime, but following restoration work the distribution of Sphagnum mosses has increased throughout the Site.

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