Kurjenrahka National Park ( fi, Kurjenrahkan kansallispuisto, sv, Kurjenrahka nationalpark) is a
national park in
Southwest Finland
Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The reg ...
. It was established in 1998 and covers . The area consists mainly of
bog but also includes primeval forests, some of which have been unmanaged for over 150 years. The
Eurasian lynx
The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...
is a permanent resident of Kurjenrahka, but
brown bear
The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...
s and
gray wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
have also been observed and are known to reside in areas within or close to the park. Marked trails in the general area extend to over 300 km.
In Middle Ages the forests were jointly owned by the local parish. In early 1800s two manors bought them, but they had financially hard times and had to sell them to the state before end of the 19th century. Before selling, they logged clear all areas with easy access, but some islands in middle of mires remained unlogged.
See also
*
List of national parks of Finland
There are 41 national parks in Finland. They are all managed by the Metsähallitus. The national parks cover a total area of – 2.7% of Finland's total land area.
A total of 3.2 million people visited the parks in 2018. During the Covid-19 pa ...
*
Protected areas of Finland
The protected areas of Finland include national parks, nature reserves and other areas, with a purpose of conserving areas of all of Finland's ecosystems and biotopes.
Protected areas include:
* National parks of Finland (''Kansallispuisto/Nation ...
References
External links
*
*
Outdoors.fi – Kurjenrahka National Park
Protected areas established in 1998
Geography of Southwest Finland
Mynämäki
Aura, Finland
Tourist attractions in Turku
Tourist attractions in Southwest Finland
National parks of Finland
1998 establishments in Finland
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