Paanajarvi: Ancient Wilderness

Paanajarvi: Ancient Wilderness

Hidden in the far northwestern corner of the Karelian Republic is a Russian natural treasure: Paanajarvi National Park. Paanajarvi’s cornucopia of falls, mountains, ridges, lakes, forests, flora, and fauna, combined with its extreme climate and topography, has created a harsh and rugged terrain of exquisite natural beauty.

Paanajarvi National Park’s 258,100 acres contain the highest peaks, the deepest lake, and the fastest flowing waters in Karelia. Paanajarvi also lies at a biological crossroads: flora and fauna from the East, West, North and South have intersected here, creating a high species diversity, including 108 ancient and endemic plant species. Altogether, 543 species of vascular plants have been identified in the park. Nine of these species are listed in the Russian Federation’s Red Data Book. Old-growth taiga forests cover two-thirds of the park (making unauthorized logging in and near the park one of its greatest threats).

Lake Paanajarvi, often called “The Baikal of the North,” is a 24-km long ribbon of glistening blue, reaching depths of 128 meters. Like Lake Baikal, Lake Paanajarvi was created by tectonic movements—the folding, faulting, and fracturing of the crystalline rock substructure. The shoreline is a series of low, sharp-edged ridges resembling waves frozen in time. These rolling ridges are punctuated in one area by the breathtaking Ruskeakallio (Red Cliffs), a 45-meter high wall of dolomite rising out of the edge of the lake. The cliffs harbor an extraordinary array of plants, including many rare species from varied environments, thriving side by side. The waters of Lake Paanajarvi contain crustaceans dating back to the Ice Age. Their closest relatives live thousands of kilometers away in Lake Baikal. Large numbers of salmon and brook trout abound in the park’s interconnected lakes and rivers—the only remaining unobstructed habitat in Fennoscandia for these fish.

Some land animals that are now quite rare in the rest of Europe thrive in Paanajarvi, such as the wolf, brown bear, moose, wolverine, and reindeer. Altogether, 35 species of mammals have been identified in the park. Paanajarvi is also home to 146 taiga and tundra bird species, over two dozen types of which are rare or endangered in Karelia and the surrounding regions, including the extremely rare partridge and lesser white-fronted goose. Three rare birds of prey nest in the park: the golden eagle, the white-tailed eagle, and the osprey.

Of Paanajarvi’s numerous waterfalls and rapids, the most distinguished is the Kivakka waterfall. The mighty flow of water tumbling and cascading down these falls has been recorded at a peak rate of 500 cubic meters per second, making it one of Russia’s major waterfalls. In addition to its spectacular waters, the park also boasts Mt. Nuorunen, the highest point in European Russia (576 m). Other peaks in the park, Mt. Mantytunturi (550 m) and Mt. Kivakka (499 m), offer outstanding panoramic vistas.

Although Paanajarvi’s wilderness hints that this place has been void of human activity, humans have long left their mark here: long periods of peace have been punctuated by warfare, changes in sovereignty, and waves of settlement. Perhaps the most visible reminder of the past is the former (1849-1940) Finnish-Russian border, a long, narrow strip that cuts through the park’s territory. Not as conspicuous and further to the east of the old Finnish border is the former Swedish-Russian border, which divided the countries from 1595 to 1849. (The current Russian-Finnish border is approximately 25 km to the west of the former one.)

According to available data, the earliest dwellers in this region were the Sami, who arrived around 1000 B.C. and remained until the twentieth century. Although the Sami themselves have departed, their carefully constructed holy objects—structures of precisely balanced rocks—remain on the summits of Mt. Kivakka and Mt. Nuorunen. The Sami believed that spirits living in these rocks have power over all who pass by.

Finns first appeared in this area in 1769, gradually multiplying and building new settlements. By the beginning of World War II, a line of settlements was strung along the shores of Lake Paanajarvi from its western to its eastern end. Settlers in these well-developed villages farmed and raised livestock. People were forced to evacuate these settlements at the end of 1939, when World War II encroached. Grassy green clearings along the shore serve as reminders of past villages and past lives.

Those who tried to resettle in 1942 were forced to flee in 1944. With their departure, the road to Paanajarvi literally vanished, and Paanajarvi slipped away from human contact, hidden but not forgotten in an off-limits buffer zone between the USSR and Finland.

In the dawn of glasnost in the late 1980s, Paanajarvi was caught up in new battles. This time, the struggles were not fought on its land, but rather in town meetings and university lecture halls. They involved not soldiers, but concerned citizens, professors, environmentalists, and scientists.

In 1986, the Leningrad Institute of Energy Planning and the Finnish firm Imatran Voima (IVO) sought to build a powerful hydroelectric station on Lake Paanajarvi. In early 1989, a Finnish tourism company won approval from Finnish and Russian officials to build a downhill ski resort on Mt. Nuorunen.

Local activists rallied the public against both efforts. They proposed creating Paanajarvi National Park, which would include Mt. Nuorunen, as an alternative to the hydroelectric station. Proponents highlighted the area’s great biological value and its potential to form part of a protected area network with Oulanka National Park, an adjacent park on the Finnish side of the border. Thanks to these tenacious efforts, neither the hydroelectric station nor the ski resort materialized, and the park was established on May 5, 1992.

In 1998, around 2,500 tourists visited Paanajarvi. This figure is still quite modest in comparison with other national parks. For instance, there are approximately 100,000 visitors to Finland’s Oulanka annually, and its territory is about one-fourth the size of Paanajarvi. But with only one long and difficult road from the park’s headquarters into the park itself, Paanajarvi is still not easy to visit (everyone except Karelian residents must have a permit to enter the near-border zone where Paanajarvi is located). But the dearth of roads has also ensured the preservation of wilderness, something that seems to be quickly vanishing in other national parks.

On the one hand, Paanajarvi welcomes visitors, and its tourism department is striving to improve existing services while gradually increasing its capacity. On the other hand, the park is cautious about advertising its natural wonders too widely. According to Alexander Bizhon, Paanajarvi National Park’s Director, the preservation of undefiled, natural wilderness is the park’s first priority, and thus they will allow more visitors only when adequate infrastructure is in place. Already the number of visitors at any one time in the park is controlled.

Paanajarvi’s plentiful fish and wildlife, its magnificent views and its luring waters draw people here again and again. With such unique features, Paanajarvi may never have to invest in advertising, only in making sure that its visitors leave the park just as they found it.

Stephanie Hitztaler is the assistant editor of Russian Conservation News. Nastya Protasova is an employee at Paanajarvi National Park specializing in outreach and ecotourism activities.