The Kulyagash (name originates from the

Mari language The Mari language (Mari: , ''marij jylme''; russian: марийский язык, ''mariyskiy yazyk''), formerly known as the Cheremiss language, spoken by approximately 400,000 people, belongs to the Uralic language family. It is spoken primar ...

; tt-Cyrl, Көләгәш; russian: Кулягаш) is the biggest wetland in

Tatarstan The Republic of Tatarstan (russian: Республика Татарстан, Respublika Tatarstan, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə tətɐrˈstan; tt-Cyrl, Татарстан Республикасы), or simply Tatarstan (russian: Татарстан, tt ...

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. It consists of Kulyagash swamp and several lakes. It is situated in Belaya and

Ik River The Ik (; tt-Cyrl, Ык, ''Iq''; , ''Iq'') is a river in Russia that flows north to the Kama. It flows through the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan and through Orenburg Oblast. The left tributaries are Mellya, Menzelya, Dymka, and ...

s interfluvial, Aktanyshsky District, at the east of Tatarstan, near the border with

Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик� ...

. The area of the wetland is estimated as 22,000 ha. Kulyagash stretches from west to east , from north to south . The most notable lakes in the wetland are Atyr, Kinder-Kul, Azybeyevskoye, Syulyale-Kul, the biggest being, however elongate Kulyagash Lake. There are forests at the several islands in the swamp.

Ecology

Since 1978 it is endanged by

Nizhnekamsk Reservoir Lower Kama Reservoir or Nizhnekamsk Reservoir (russian: Нижнекамское водоранилище; tt-Cyrl, Түбән Кама сусаклагычы) is the lowest reservoir from the Kama River hydroelectric cascade. It is situated in T ...

, which is now at 62 meters above sea level, but it is planned to fill it up to 68 to flood Kulyagash totally. The wetland was formed by meandering Ik and Belaya. Several species of plants, such as

Andromeda polifolia ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs ...

, Scheuchzeria palustrus, Oxicoccus palustrus, Eriophoeum vaginatum, Salix myrtilloides, mentioned in the local Red Book, as well as rare Najas major,

Nymphaea alba ''Nymphaea alba'', the white waterlily, European white water lily or white nenuphar , is an aquatic flowering plant in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is native to North Africa, temperate Asia, Europe and tropical Asia (Jammu and Kashmir). Descrip ...

Nuphar pumila ''Nuphar pumila'', the least water-lily or small yellow pond-lily, is an aquatic perennial plant in the Nymphaeaceae family. It is also known as the dwarf water lily since it looks like a smaller ''Nuphar lutea''. while ''Nuphar pumila'' has a ...

, Leersia oryzoides, Calamagrostis neglecta, C.phragmitoides,

Ligularia sibirica ''Ligularia sibirica'' is the type species for the genus '' Ligularia''. It is a 0.3-1.3 m tall perennial herbaceous plant, native to fens and damp grassy meadows in Siberia, Central and Eastern Europe. Once fairly common, it has disappeared f ...

and

Betula humilis ''Betula humilis'', known in English as the shrubby birch, is a species of birch that can be found in Europe and Asia. The species has ovate leaves that are long and is related to ''Betula fruticosa ''Betula fruticosa'', commonly known as dwa ...

inhabit the area. Kulyagash is proposed to be included to

Ramsar sites in Russia Ramsar sites are natural locations under the protection of the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands. As of March 2013 there were 35 Ramsar sites in Russia, totalling an area of . The first Russian sites r ...

. In 2001 the district government proposed the creation of ''Kulyagash'' reserve there, and in 2004 Tatarstan ministry of ecology promised to establish reserve there. However, in 2008 it was decided to fill the reservoir up to 68 m.

Economy

Swamp's surface area, covered with

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

is 4897 ha, 2774 of them are ultimate reserves. The mean thickness of peat is 1.32 m (the maximum is 4.5 m), total volume of peat is 36,624,000 m³.

Human history

The archaeological excavations revealed scents of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

peoples in Kulyagash. Prior the 14th century the area was populated by

Finnic peoples The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...

, but then was populated by

Volga Bulgars Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria, was a historic Bulgar state that existed between the 7th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now European Russia. Volga Bulgaria was a multi-ethnic state wi ...

and other

Turkic peoples The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members speak languages belonging t ...

, developed to the modern

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different

and

Bashkirs , native_name_lang = bak , flag = File:Bashkirs of Baymak rayon.jpg , flag_caption = Bashkirs of Baymak in traditional dress , image = , caption = , population = approx. 2 million , popplace ...

. Since late 16th century is also a home of the

Eastern Mari Meadow Mari or Meadow-Eastern Mari or Eastern Mari is a standardised dialect of the Mari language used by about half a million people mostly in the European part of the Russian Federation. Meadow Mari, Hill Mari, and Russian are official languag ...

and

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

. In the 19th century Derbeshkinsky settlement was founded at the north of the wetland. There were dockyards for the

Kama river The Kama (russian: Ка́ма, ; tt-Cyrl, Чулман, ''Çulman''; udm, Кам) is a long«Река � ...

ships, until the settlement, as well as several surrounding villages was flooded in 1980s by reservoir. http://www.hrono.ru/text/2005/timer01_05.html

References

{{Wetlands Swamps of Russia Landforms of Tatarstan