__NOTOC__ Vilsandi National Park ( et, Vilsandi rahvuspark) is a

marine protected area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...

Saare County Saare County ( et, Saare maakond or ''Saaremaa''; la, Oesel; german: Ösel; sv, Ösel) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It consists of Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, and several smaller islands near it, most notably Muhu, Ruhnu, Abru ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. It includes part of the island of

Vilsandi The island of Vilsandi, Saaremaa Parish, Saare County, Estonia is located in the Baltic Sea. It covers an area of some 9 square km and is the westernmost populated island in Estonia. The surrounding waters are shallow and rocky and many ships trav ...

, a number of smaller islands, adjacent parts of western

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

and the Harilaid peninsula on Saaremaa, all in

Kihelkonna Parish Kihelkonna Parish was a municipality in Saare County, Estonia. The parish included the islands named Aherahu, Juksirahu, Kalarahu, Käkirahu, Laasirahu, Loonalaid, Maturahu, Mihklirahu, Noogimaa, Nootamaa, Ojurahu, Salava, Uus-Noota ...

and

Lääne-Saare Parish Lääne-Saare Parish ( et, Lääne-Saare vald) was a rural municipality of Estonia, in Saare County. It was located on the western part of Saaremaa island. The municipality has a population of ca 7,200 and an area of 807 km2. Lääne-Saare ...

History

The park grew from a bird reserve founded in 1910. It is a highly sensitive ecosystem due to the use of the area as stop-over by many migratory birds, like

barnacle geese The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus ''Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey ''Anser'' species. Despite its superficial s ...

and

Steller's eider Steller's eider (''Polysticta stelleri'') is a migrating Arctic diving duck that breeds along the coastlines of eastern Russia and Alaska. It is the rarest, smallest, and fastest flying of the eider species. Amongst the Inupiat, Steller's eider is ...

, and as a breeding and nesting ground for over 247 species of birds, of which the most common is the

eider duck Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...

. One third of all protected plant species in Estonia can also be found in the national park. Hunting is absolutely prohibited. This park is a popular tourist destination for both Estonians and foreign visitors, particularly from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

External links

Vilsandi National Park
(in Estonian)
Vilsandi National Park
at the Estonian State Forest Management Centre (RMK)

References

National parks of Estonia Protected areas established in 1957 1957 establishments in Estonia Saaremaa Parish Ramsar sites in Estonia Geography of Saare County Tourist attractions in Saare County {{Europe-protected-area-stub

History

See also

External links

References