Ziemeļgauja is a

protected landscape Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

area Ziemeļvidzeme with a total area of 21,749 ha, which was established in 2004 in a section of about 140 km along the

Gauja The Gauja River ( et, Koiva jõgi, german: Livländische Aa) is a river in the Vidzeme region of Latvia. It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 93.5 km (approxim ...

middle stream and its valley. "Nature Protection Plan"
Latvian Fund for Nature, 2007 The territory of the park includes natural, unregulated river (Gauja) and its ancestral system, botanically valuable meadows, old mixed and deciduous forests. The park is part of a network of protected areas

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

.Rūsiņa, S. 2008. Dabisko zālāju atjaunošanas pasākumu ietekme uz veģetāciju aizsargājamo ainavu apvidū Ziemeļgauja nfluence of semi-natural grassland restoration on the vegetation in the Protected Landscape Area Northern Gauja pp. 57–72. In: A. Auniņš (ed.). Aktuālā Savvaļas Sugu un Biotopu Apsaimniekošanas Problemātika Latvijā. Latvijas Universitāte, Rīga.

Flora and fauna

There is a great diversity of rare Latvian and EU-wide specially protected habitats in the protected area, which is home to many very rare species of lichens, vascular plants, invertebrates and birds. So far, 126 specially protected species in Latvia have been identified in the protected landscape area "Ziemeļgauja": three fungi, nine species of lichens, four mosses, 13 vascular plants, 47 invertebrates, one reptile, one amphibian, four species of roundnose grenadier and fish, 35 species of birds and nine mammals, and 26 habitats of the EU Habitats Directive have been identified

Tourist infrastructure

In recent years, the tourism infrastructure has been developed in the area - near the Gauja, in Valka district, Zvārtava Parish, a 27 m high observation tower has been created, from which you can see the Gauja, its bends and surroundings - meadows and forests, "New observation towers and platforms are being built in Latvia"
Nature Protection Board A 7 km long Kokši nature trail around four lakes has been created near Valka - , , and , which are connected by river.

References

{{Protected areas of Latvia Natura 2000 in Latvia Nature parks in Latvia Valka Municipality Smiltene Municipality Valmiera Municipality Vidzeme