The Monche Mountains and Chuna Tundra of Kola Peninsula
In the centre and on the west side of the biggest lake Imandra Lake of Kola
Peninsula Russian Lapland you can find the Monche Mountains. The first mountain ridge separates
the civilization of Monchegorsk with the beautiful Monche Mountains area. The
contrast between the west slope with the charms of living nature and the east
slope, the zone of human’s activity, of these Monche Mountains ridge is
striking.
The huge valley or low-land area of the Vite River in the Monche Mountains
consists of virgin pine forests and spruce forests which age is 400-500 years
old. More to the northwest direction the valley become a ravine. The nature
there is like Japan banzai gardens where mountain and forest landscape are shown
in miniature. The beautiful waterfall Ebr-chorr (the waterfall of Rain Ridge)
separates the low and high plateau of the ravine. The stream from the waterfall
Ebr-chorr is running between high vertical walls and is falling into a stone cup
on the palms of Lapland. In the ravine Karneskorch (the Raven’s Ravine) where
the river springs are nests of the rare Nordic bird, the 'gyrfalcon' having its
territory in the fells. The downstream of the Vite River flows into saint lake
Seidjavr and continues to flow to the Imandra Lake.
The Monche Mountains are part of the Lappish Reserve also known as the Lapland Reservation
or Laplandski Natural Reservation in Russian Lapland, which is founded in 1930.
The Lapland Reservation is second by size in the European part of Russia and
measure 2784 squared kilometres. This territory was allocated to reserve for
realisation of the major purpose; preservation and restoration of a livestock of
wild reindeers on the Kola Peninsula.
As a result of active hunting, the wild northern deer in the west of the Kola
Peninsula appeared on the verge of extinction to the moment of foundation of the
Lapland Reservation. About hundred reindeers were still keeping their distance
in the most remote district on the Chuna Tundra, everything that remained from
herds of many thousands. Places of dwelling of the last herd of reindeers Chuna
Tundra and Monche Mountains were included in the territory of reserve. Already
in 1967, as a result of creation of Lapland Reservation the number of reindeers
in the western part of Kola Peninsula has reach 12.500. However the density of
the ‘savages’ has proved to be uneasy, their number again has fallen down to 200
heads by 1980. The number of reindeers in the Monche Mountains is nowadays
2.000 and at the same time 430 species of plants, 15 species of fishes, 119
species of birds, plus 56 kinds on migration, and 28 species of mammals lives
there.
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