List of Specially Protected Natural Areas of the Leningrad Region

The list of specially protected natural territories of the Leningrad Region lists all 52 complexes existing for 2017 . Of these, 1 object is a nature reserve , 1 - a natural park (including 7 reserves), 27 - reserves and 17 - natural monuments . Two objects - the Nizhne-Svirsky Reserve and the Mshinsky Swamp Reserve - have the status of federal significance, another 5 natural territories - the status of wetlands of international importance. ^[one]

The total area of protected areas is 6% of the entire territory of the region - 5700 km². The largest of them - Veps forest - has an area of ​​189,100 ha, in second place is the Mshinsky swamp reserve with an area of ​​60,400 ha. The smallest area is occupied by the geological natural monument Gustoy Island - only 54 hectares. Most of the facilities are located in the Luga (10 protected areas) and Vyborg (14 protected areas) areas. The remaining protected areas are distributed as follows: 5 are located in the Gatchinsky district , 3 in the Tosnensky district , 4 in the Lomonosovsky and Vsevolozhsky regions, 3 in the Priozersky district and 3 in the Kingisepp districts, 2 in the Lodeynopolsky , Boksitogorsky and Podporozhsky , Volosovsky and Volkhovsky districts and one each - in Tikhvin , Kurortny , Kirish , Kirov regions. Thus, not a single protected area exists only in the Slantsy district.

Most of the specially protected natural territories of the Leningrad Region were founded in 1976, including all natural monuments. In Russian time, the list of protected areas in the region was replenished due to the North Mshinsky swamp reserve (1991), Gladyshevsky and Birch Islands (1996), the Veps forest (1999), the Kurgalsky forest (2000) and the Swan reserves (2007), the State Natural Kivipark nature reserve (2012), the Toksovsky Heights nature monument (2014).

By categories, all protected objects of the region, except the Veps forest and the Lower Svirsky reserve, are divided into complex - 20, botanical - 3, geological - 6, geological-hydrological - 2, hydrological - 5, landscape - 1 and ornithological - 1.

The second section of the list lists 5 protected areas that were assigned the status of wetlands of international importance by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1050 on September 13, 1994 . In these regions there are international and national programs aimed at protecting wetland complexes and their nature and arranging ecological tourism and recreation .

The third section lists seven reserves of the Veps forest regional natural park. All of them were formed together with the park in 1999 and have an area from 16 ( Lerinsky ) to 74.1 km² ( Aschozersky ).