The Šušvė Landscape Sanctuary ( lt, Šušvės kraštovaizdžio draustinis) is a protected area of a state importance in

Josvainiai Eldership Josvainiai Eldership ( lt, Josvainių seniūnija) is a Lithuanian eldership, located in the southern part of Kėdainiai District Municipality. Eldership was created from the Josvainiai ''selsovet'' in 1993. Geography The territory of Josvainiai ...

, Kėdainiai District Municipality, in central

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It was established in 1974 and covers an area of . It covers the lower course of the

Šušvė Šušvė is a river in central Lithuania, a right (the longest) tributary of the Nevėžis river. It begins in Kelmė district municipality, 6 km (4 mi) southeast from Tytuvėnai. The river passes through Tytuvėnai and Sulinkiai Marshes ...

river between Macgaliai village and the Šušvė confluence with the Nevėžis river. It also include the lower courses of the Šušvė tributaries the Žiedupė, the

Vikšrupis The Vikšrupis is a river of Kėdainiai district municipality, Kaunas County, central Lithuania. It flows for and has a basin area of . The river is a right tributary of the Šušvė. It starts nearby Jakšiai village, then flows to the west thr ...

and the

Putnupys The Putnupys is a river of Kėdainiai district municipality, Kaunas County, central Lithuania. It flows for and has a basin area of . It originates in the Pernarava-Šaravai Forest, 3 km from Skaistgiriai village. The Putnupys flows to the sout ...

. The aim of the sanctuary is to protect the Šušvė river valley with outcrops and vimba spawning grounds. The valley is of width, depth, slopes and terraces are covered by bushes and leafy groves. The river course is loopy, there are

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s. The river flow is rapid, deeply burrows into the earth. There are outcrops of Devonic sand, clay and gypsum. Suphosic circuses could be observed on the river slopes. There are rare plant species, growing on the riparian meadows, such as

star gentian ''Gentiana cruciata'', the star gentian or cross gentian, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the Gentianaceae family. Description ''Gentiana cruciata'' is a hemicryptophyte scapose plant of small size, reaching on average in height. ...

, '' Conioselinum tataricum'', ''

Campanula bononiensis ''Campanula bononiensis'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, ...

'', ''

Orchis militaris ''Orchis militaris'', the military orchid, is a species of orchid native to Europe. It is the type species of the genus ''Orchis''. Description This plant grows to a height of 20 to 50 cm with a robust stem with rather drawn up oblong ...

''. Common kingfishers nest on the scarps, and Eurasian otters live in the river water.

References

Protected areas in Kėdainiai District Municipality 1974 establishments in Lithuania {{KaunasCounty-geo-stub