Kostomuksha Nature Reserve

Kostomuksha Nature Reserve (also Kostomukshsky) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict ecological reserve) of forests, lakes, rivers and wetlands on the border of Russian and Finland. It was created in 1983, along with other protected areas, in part to mitigate the impact of the Karelskiy Okatysh mine outside of the town of Kostomuksha, one of the largest iron ore reserves in Russia, and also to protect the forest from increase commercial logging in the area. A further scientific purpose is the protection of forest reindeer and a type of landlocked salmon. The reserve is part of a transboundary reserve complex with reserves in Finland to the west (collectively called "Friendship"), and is situated in the Kalevalsky District and Muyezersky District of the Republic of Karelia, about 500 km north of St. Petersburg and 500 km west of Arkhangelsk. The reserve was created in 1993, and covers an area of 47,569 ha (183.66 sq mi).

NatureReserve data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).