Samursky forest in Dagestan: description, vegetation and reviews

Nature generously endowed Dagestan, on a not so large territory there are many climatic zones. That only there are the famous barchan Sarykum and the relic forest. In this article, we want to talk about what the Samur forest is.

Amazing edge

The Caucasus has long attracted tourists, travelers, climbers and ordinary exotic fans to its lands. It can not be said that there are few beautiful places in the world, but in Dagestan there is a unique collection of rare species of animals and plants, some of which are listed in the Red Book. The warm and bright world of contrasts, the mountains of the eastern part of the Caucasian range, the unique nature and proximity of the Caspian Sea have long attracted tourists. That is why in the summer the population in Dagestan is doubled.

Healing mud and magnificent beaches, plenty of sun and clean air are perfect conditions for a good rest. However, Dagestan is interesting not only as a health resort. Here are well preserved from ancient times, the true monuments of nature. Samursky forest in Dagestan is interesting because along with the most valuable breeds grow ordinary apple, pear, and cork trees are braided with lianas. Is not this a miracle?

Real jungles in Russia

Samursky forest in Dagestan is in the delta of the Samur River. This is approximately two hundred and twenty kilometers from Makhachkala (Derbenets district). At present, the Samursky forest is a territory of the same name reserve. Here, the lianas braid the trunks of trees, and the grasses are so high that it seems as if the human foot has never set foot there. Meanwhile, for centuries, lindens, walnuts, apple trees, pears, hornbeams, poplars and other trees that are adjacent to flexible vines grow for centuries. It is interesting that all lianas species need sunlight. Over the centuries they have developed the ability to keep thin mustaches behind the branches of surrounding trees and thus rise higher, pleasing beautiful flowers and leaves.

It seems that people just can not live in such a forest, but this is not entirely true. There is even a leshoz in the reserve. The Samurian forest would have expected a sad fate, if the locals had not taken up the matter together with the public organizations involved in the protection of natural monuments.

Relict reserve

The Samurian lianas forest is completely dependent not on rains, but rather on the underground keys that are the sources of its nutrition. The activity of a person is not reflected in this territory in the best way. The fact is that every year people take more and more water from the Samur River.

But to our times ancient traditions have come, telling how carefully the ancestors treated the lianas forest. Some trees, birds and animals were considered sacred. Those who dared to break a twig or injure a bird were seriously punished.

All this information is drawn by contemporaries from the most ancient sources, dated the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is very unfortunate that now everything that has been guarded by ancestors for centuries has been wasted with incredible speed. The struggle for the protection of the Samur forest has been going on since the seventies of the last century, and the status of the national park was found only in 1991.

Description

The Samursky forest is a valuable massif of nature, located along the Samur River, on the territory of which animals live and rare migratory birds nest. Environmentalists believe that the lian national park is one of the last relict forests in Russia. Experts are trying to closely monitor the populations of birds, migratory and wintering, as many of them were on the verge of extinction due to the fact that people are destroying their habitual nesting places.

The unique lianas forest in Dagestan has long been known all over the world. Thousands of different kinds of vegetation grow in it, some of which have long been recorded not only in the Red Book of Dagestan, but also in Russia. It is difficult to imagine, but on an area equal to two thousand hectares, live, reproduce and give offspring of more than 450 varieties of vertebrates. And what are the herbaceous plants of the Samursky forest, they are so high that it gives the impression of absolute wildness of the edge, as if it found itself in a place where a man had never walked before.

Rarest species

In the Samur forest, live animals and plants that are no longer found anywhere in the world:

1. Nut-nosed lotus, yellow steynbergiya, frog-winged lapina, three-foot nectasorodium, Shirvan orchis or northern orchid, and many other plants.
2. Only in these parts there are abundant caspian and long-lipped crayfish, a large stag beetle that can fly vertically, a beetle, butterfly-sailfish, a pointed red bear and an unusual bolivarian.
3. Among the rarest mammals in the lianas forest, one can find the Caucasian otter, the European broad-shouldered, the reed cat, the forest cat. And among the rare birds on the earth here inhabit the white-tailed eagle, curly pelican, karavayka, snakehead, peregrine falcon, steppe and meadow grassland and others.
4. And closer to the sea you can see the Mediterranean tortoise, the red-belly skid, the Syrian garlick.

Lianas

In the very midst of an amazing rainforest, in which there are about seventy species of trees and shrubs, more than a dozen species of lianas live. Actually, it is for this reason that this wonderful place is called a lian forest. Here you can see the amazing variety of such plants that twine the branches of trees, adorn them with whole bunches of unprecedented flowers, giving an ineffable aroma. Variegated butterflies and birds singing complement the incredible picture. This amount of lianas is far from everywhere.

Healing Lakes

The uniqueness of the Samurian forest is not limited only to animals and plants, there is a network of small medicinal lakes near the shores of the Caspian Sea. And these water bodies are formed precisely due to the waters of the underground rivers of the lianas forest. The shallow lakes warm well and are a large spawning ground for kutum and salmon.

Millions of migratory birds feed on the same reservoirs, as well as those birds that nest in the lianas forest. The fact is that in Dagestan, severe winters are enough, so birds always fly to places where fresh water and feed are available. Sometimes tens of thousands of birds from the marshes of the reserve fly into the lower reaches of Samur. It was such an abundance of birds that turned this place into an ornithological laboratory, and of world significance. In these places, the birds are constantly monitored.

Samursky Forest: recreation center

Samur has long been a favorite holiday destination for tourists. In the delta of the river there is a subtropical lian forest, and on the sea coast there are absolutely wonderful places for rest.

On the coast of the Caspian Sea, boarding houses have been built for a long time, offering rest in their apartments. Among them are "Golden Sands", "Kizlyar Lagoon", "Surf", "Seagull". You can stop at any of them if you want to see the Samur forest. The recreation center (any of them) offers a pastime at the sea. Tourists can make walks and excursions to the sights of Dagestan. The obligatory point of the program is the Samursky forest. A rest and a walk in such an amazing place will be remembered for a long time. The Dagestan pearl is worth seeing.

The recreation center in the Samursky forest could become a very popular and visited place for tourists. It is necessary to draw people's attention to the problems of this region. However, it must be understood that the lianas forest is a protected area, and any excess human presence can be detrimental to it. And without that the leshoz constantly deals with logging of unique trees, violating the integrity of all that came to us from ancestors. The activities of border outposts located on the forest territory, which contribute to the destruction of the environment, do not have the best effect.

Reviews of tourists

Samursky forest is one of the attractions of Dagestan. According to tourists who visited it, this is a terrific sight. The amazing contrast of these places is striking. It is difficult to imagine, when the usual trees for us, ordinary trees are entwined with strange lianas. You only need to see this. Therefore, having visited Dagestan, it is absolutely necessary to go to the Samursky zakaznik. You will get a lot of impressions and discover this amazing land.