Soomaa National Park

SOOMAA NATIONAL PARK

Soomaa National Park is a wetland area covering 39,843.5 hectares in Pärnu and Viljandi County. The natural treasures of Soomaa National Park are the bogs, rivers, floodplain meadows and forests with their magnificent biodiversity.

Soomaa was granted its name as a landscape region in 1922 by J.G.Granö, a Finnish professor of geography at the University of Tartu. Soomaa National Park was established in 1993.

Soomaa, which has also been called the wilderness capital of Estonia, comprises altogether five large bogs - Valgeraba, Öördi bog, Riisa bog, Kikepera bog and Kuresoo bog. It is noteworthy that Kuresoo bog is the largest integral bog in Estonia with the total area of 90 km². The traditional land use on the banks of the meandering rivers has turned riversides into water meadows and wooded meadows with a versatile variety of species. These vast untouched areas are the reason why Soomaa belongs to PAN Parks, the European network of protected wilderness areas.

Approximately 80% of the relatively flat Soomaa, which is also a wetland of international importance, comprises marshy habitats, such as bogs, mesotrophic mires, fens, paludified meadows and riparian forests. The formation of bogs began after the last ice age receded about 13,000 years ago. At that time there was a huge lake on the edge of Pärnu and Viljandi counties - Baltic Ice Lake. When the lake receded, smaller bodies of water remained in the hollows and developed into bogs over time, which have now become raised bogs. The deepest peat layer can be found in Valgeraba bog where it reaches 11 metres.

The noblest inhabitants of the five bogs in Soomaa are the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, protected category I), common crane (Grus grus), jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus, protected category II) and European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria). Edges of bogs and marsh islands are the playgrounds for the western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus, protected category II) and in the spring black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) can be heard cooing in the bog. The great snipe (Gallinago media, protected category II) and corncrake (Crex crex) also live here. If you are lucky, you might meet black storks (Ciconia nigra, protected category I) and various owls.
Although bogs have had an uninviting and dangerous reputation in folklore, we appreciate them as collectors, purifiers, and preservers of fresh water, regulating the natural cycle of water.

The forests in Soomaa are mostly wet. During floods, nutrients are transferred with floodwaters from the rivers to the floodplain forests. The nutrient-rich soil is suitable for broadleaved trees that grow there, such as oak (Quercus robur), linden (Tilia cordata), ash (Fraxinus excelsior), maple (Acer platanoides), white elm (Ulmus laevis) and Wych elm (Ulmus glabra). These forests are inviting for rare birds, such as middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) and white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos, protected category II).

Due to subsiding soil of the bog forests and barren swamp forests the roots of the trees have been exposed and puddles form here and there. This is an excellent environment for mosquitoes to breed. The yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus), bog violet (Viola uliginosa) and marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) grow there. Other noteworthy plants are Turkish marsh gladiolus (Gladiolus imbricatus, protected category II), Cambridge milk-parsley (Selinum carvifolia) and shining meadow-rue (Thalictrum lucidum).

Slope forests grow on drier mineral soil. Long-standing, mighty aspen trees are characteristic to the slope forests of Soomaa. In the south-eastern corner of the protected area, on the former beach dunes of the Baltic Ice Lake, the landscape is characterised by dry and light-filled heath and pine forests with a majority of pines, and where pasque flowers (Pulsatilla patens, protected category II) like to grow.

These forests are home to large carnivores - lynx (Lynx lynx), wolf (Canis lupus) and bear (Ursus arctos). The largest animal in Estonian forests - moose (Alces alces) (weight up to 600 kg) will find enough herbaceous plants and tree bark in the forests and grasslands here. The cultural landscapes are inviting to herbivores, such as roe deer (Capreolus capreolus).

Human settlements are a favourable neighbourhood for white storks (Ciconia ciconia), who feed on everything they can handle - earthworms and insects, mice, moles, frogs, snakes, and also fish. They will not refuse a young rabbit either.

The insect-rich Soomaa is a good habitat for barn swallows (Hirundo rustica), who feed on flies, mosquitoes, beetles, butterflies, spiders and dragonflies.

NOTES FOR VISITORS

Follow the freedom to roam and good practices when moving or travelling in nature. You will need the owner’s permission to move on marked/fenced private land.
Use only prepared and marked areas intended for putting up a tent and making a fire. Put the fire out when you leave the campfire site.
Drive and park a motor vehicle in the designated area.
It is permitted to hold public events with up to 50 participants in unprepared sites within the protected area. The organisation of public events with over 50 participants in unprepared sites is permitted only with the consent of the administrator of the protected area, i.e. the Environmental Board.
Act without leaving a trace in nature - keep the forest, meadows, river, and river banks clean.
Keep your dog on a leash and clean up after your dog.
Take the rubbish you have created home with you!