Kuril Reserve
North Kuril city district, Sakhalin region, Russia.
Description:
On February 10, 1984, the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR established the Kuril State Nature Reserve. It is located in the South Kuril region, in the Sakhalin region, on the islands of the Kuril archipelago.
The area of the reserve is 65 365 hectares. It consists of 3 separated areas: the northern Kunashir, southern Kunashir, and the Small Kuril ridge, located on the islands of Demin and Oskolka.
More than 70% of the entire protected area is covered with forests. The reserve has 227 species of birds, of which 107 nest and 29 species of mammals. Many of the animals are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
The Kuril Reserve is rich in vascular plants, there are 107 species, some of them are listed in the International and Russian Red Books. In Russia, only on the island of Kunashir, you can find Maksimovich birch, disputed botrokarium, reverse-egg magnolia, Maximovich linden and Japanese maple.
Natural objects are: the caldera of the Golovnina volcano, the Bird Falls, the Tyatya volcano, the Neskuchensky springs and the Cape Column.
66 ethnographic and archaeological monuments were found on this territory, and its protected zones, including the sites of ancient man, Japanese structures, Ainu settlements and others.