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.

References

External links

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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 {{WesternFinland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links