Dainava Forest ( lt, Dainavos giria) also the ''Druskininkai-Varėna Forest'' ( lt, Druskininkų‑Varėnos miškai), historically the ''Hrodna Forest'' ( pl, Puszcza Grodzieńska), or the ''Belarusian Forest'' ( lt, Gudų giria) is the largest forest in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It as a

primeval forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

Dzūkija Dzūkija or Dainava is one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. Dzūkija is a cultural region defined by traditional lifestyles and dialects of the local Lithuanian population (mostly rural farmers) and has never been defined as a politi ...

region (also known as Dainava) in southern Lithuania with the total area of of which is covered by trees. A large part of the forest is protected by the

Dzūkija National Park __NOTOC__ Dzūkija National Park - a national park in Dzūkija, Lithuania, was established in 1991 in order to preserve the pine forests, the landscape, and the villages of the region. The area encompasses 584.53 square kilometers on the banks of ...

and the Čepkeliai Nature Reserve. The Dainava Forest mainly consists of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

trees. There are some

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

black alder Black alder is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *''Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, nativ ...

groves. Soils are sandy, light, densely covered by

cup lichen A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

. The forest is rich in edible mushrooms, billberries,

cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry m ...

, and cowberries. Collection of these mushrooms and berries are an important part of the local economy. The fauna includes many endangered species, such as the

gray wolf 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 ...

wood grouse The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. ...

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Palearctic, Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. It is one of the largest species of owl, ...

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

mountain hare The mountain hare (''Lepus timidus''), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare, and Irish hare, is a Palearctic hare that is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. Evolution The mountai ...

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

, ''

Coronella austriaca The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and ce ...

'',

great capricorn beetle ''Cerambyx cerdo'', commonly known as the great capricorn beetle or cerambyx longicorn, is a species of beetle in family Cerambycidae. It occurs in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia), Europe (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Cze ...

, and ''

Lucanus cervus ''Lucanus cervus'', known as the European stag beetle, or the greater stag beetle, is one of the best-known species of stag beetle (family Lucanidae) in Western Europe, and is the eponymous example of the genus. ''L. cervus'' is listed as Near ...

''. Most rivers belong to the basin of

Merkys River The Merkys ( be, Мяркіс ''Miarkis'') is a river in southern Lithuania and northern Belarus. It flows for through Belarus, along the Belarusian–Lithuanian border, and through Lithuania before joining the Nemunas near Merkinė. Merkys is ...

, including the

Ūla The Ūla ( be, Ула) is a river in Dzūkija National Park in southern Lithuania and northern Belarus. Its total length is 84 km. The Ūla flows into the Merkys The Merkys ( be, Мяркіс ''Miarkis'') is a river in southern Lithuania ...

, Katra, Grūda,

Varėnė Varėnė is a river of Alytus district municipality and Varėna district municipality, Alytus County, southern Lithuania. It flows for 48 kilometres and has a basin area of 411 km². The Varėnė begins near Skaičionys village. There ar ...

, and Skroblus. These rivers are characterized by their clear, cold water, and numerous tributaries. Also, there are some tiny

thermokarst Thermokarst is a type of terrain characterised by very irregular surfaces of marshy hollows and small hummocks formed as ice-rich permafrost thaws. The land surface type occurs in Arctic areas, and on a smaller scale in mountainous areas such as ...

lakes and bogs, including

Čepkeliai Marsh The Čepkeliai Marsh ( lt, Čepkelių raistas) is the largest bog (a mire) in Lithuania. Located in Varėna District Municipality, south of Marcinkonys village and north of Kotra River, which flows along the Belarus–Lithuania border in this a ...

, the largest

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

in Lithuania. Dainava Forest is the most sparsely populated region of Lithuania. Some of the villages were little affected by agricultural reforms and have preserved traditional Dzūkian folk architecture, which is now preserved as architecture monuments, destinations of

rural tourism Rural tourism is a tourism that focuses on actively participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism. Many villages can facilitate tourism because many villagers are hospitable and eager to welcome or host visitors. Agriculture ...

. Algimantas Černiauskas, Mindaugas Lapelė. ''Didžiųjų girių apsupty''. Vilnius: Gamtos pasaulis, 2012. These villages include Marcinkonys, Zervynos, Latežeris, Lynežeris, Dubininkas, Margionys, Musteika.

Gallery

File:Dainavos giria001.JPG, Pines of Dainava forest File:Lynežeris001.JPG, Ethnographic village of Lynežeris in the depths of the forest File:Varene springs.jpg, The sources of Varėnė river File:Pelkėtas miškas, Musteikos apylinkės.JPG,

Wild rosemary Wild rosemary is a common name for several plants and may refer to: *Wild growing forms of the cultivated rosemary *''Andromeda polifolia'' (Bog rosemary) is known as wild rosemary, found in North America and Eurasia *Wild relatives of cultivated ...

undergrowth in Dainava forest near Musteika

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite encyclopedia , last = , first = , author-link = , encyclopedia =

Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija The ''Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija'' or VLE (translation ''Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia'') is a 25-volume universal Lithuanian-language encyclopedia published by the Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute from 2001 to 2014. VL ...

, title = Dainavos giria , trans-title = , url = https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/dainavos-giria/ , access-date = 2021-04-26 , language = Lithuanian , edition = , date = 2001–2015 , publisher = Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas , volume = , location = Vilnius , pages = {{cite map , author = , title = Nowy Dwor , trans-title = , map = , map-url = , date = , year = 1926 , url = http://maps.mapywig.org/m/WIG_maps/series/100K_300dpi/P33_S39_NOWY_DWOR_(1926)-1931_300dpi_bcuj298234-285455.jpg , scale =1:100000 , series =Row 33, column 39 , version = , cartography = , publisher = Wojskowy Institut Geograficzny , page = , pages = , section = , sections = , inset = , edition = , location = Warsaw , language = Polish , format = , isbn = , id = , access-date = , archive-url = , archive-date=

Sources

* Dainavos giria. Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija, T. 1 (A-Grūdas). Vilnius, Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija, 1985, 374 psl. Forests of Lithuania Alytus County Varėna District Municipality Druskininkai Municipality