Lapland nature reserve

Contact details
Per. Zelyoniy 8, Monchegorsk, Murmansk region
Tel.: (815 36) 580 18, 571 99
Homepage: www.lapland.ru

Distance from the nearest town:
It is situated just north of the Arctic Circle on the Kola Peninsula, which separates the White and Barents seas

Lapland reserve was established to protect the northern taiga and mountain tundra, and particularly to conserve the Kola reindeer. In 1985 it was further designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

Now the whole territory of Lapland Biosphere Reserve is a part of the kernel of protected area. The territory between the east border of the Reserve and highway Murmansk-Petersburg (Ml8) is the buffer zone. That buffer zone is employing to study industrial affect on biogeocoenoses of the Kola Peninsula.

The Reserve is national property, and most uses within it are strictly controlled. Now, all economic activity, including fishing, hunting, and gathering, are forbidden. There are no settlements except for the forest guard stations along the Reserve's boundary. There are no roads; traffic is realized only by snowmobiles in winter along appointed routes, mainly along the boundary. One travels through the reserve mainly on foot. There is especial state forest guard in a staff of the Reserve.