Letea Forest is the oldest natural reservation in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. It was established in 1938, when the Romanian Council of Ministers passed Decision No. 645 declaring the forest a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

. It is located between the

Sulina Sulina () is a town and free port in Tulcea County, Northern Dobruja, Romania, at the mouth of the Sulina branch of the Danube. It is the easternmost point of Romania. History During the mid-Byzantine period, Sulina was a small cove, and in th ...

and Chilia branches of

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta ( ro, Delta Dunării, ; uk, Дельта Дунаю, Deľta Dunaju, ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. The greater part of the Danube Delta lies in Ro ...

. It covers an area of approximately . This

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

was the initial foundation of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, which has been declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. It was internationally recognized as a

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1992.UNEP-WCMC Protected Areas Programme - Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve
Retrieved on 2008-07-23. It has a subtropical aspect, due to the presence of the tropical creeper named '' Periploca graeca''. This is a Mediterranean plant which finds its most northern refuge in the Danube Delta. Along with this, types of

liana A liana is a long- stemmed, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy in search of direct sunlight. The word ''liana'' does not refer to a t ...

and other climbing plants are woven on the branches of the trees, such as the wild vine, common hop and the

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

.Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve - General Presentation
Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority. Retrieved on 2008-07-23. Letea Forest is formed mainly from trees like

white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus'', including: * ''Populus alba'', native to Eurasia * '' Populus grandidentata'', bigtooth aspen * ''Populus tremuloides ''Populus tremuloides'' is a deciduous ...

black poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nort ...

English oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

, silver lime,

narrow-leafed ash ''Fraxinus angustifolia'', the narrow-leaved ash, is a species of '' Fraxinus'' native to central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia.Flora Europaea''Fraxinus angustifolia''/ref>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and ...

and common alder. Along with those above, it is completed by a great diversity of sub-shrub species. It is also home to a rich faunal assemblage, including the

red-footed falcon The red-footed falcon (''Falco vespertinus''), formerly the western red-footed falcon, is a bird of prey. It belongs to the family Falconidae, the falcons. This bird is found in eastern Europe and Asia although its numbers are dwindling rapidly ...

, the

white-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...

, the

roller Roller may refer to: Birds *Roller, a bird of the family Coraciidae * Roller (pigeon), a domesticated breed or variety of pigeon Devices * Roller (agricultural tool), a non-powered tool for flattening ground * Road roller, a vehicle for compa ...

, the

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 ...

, the ''

Vipera ursinii :''Common names: meadow viper, Ursini's viper, Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. . meadow adder,Brown, John Haynes (1973). ''To ...

'' and the

Danube Delta horse The Danube Delta horses are a population of feral horses in Romania. They live in and around Letea Forest in the Danube Delta, between the Sulina and Chilia branches of the Danube. About 4000 feral horses live in the Danube Delta, 2000 of them ...

. There are approximately 1600 insect species identified from the reservation.

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

will destroy the

(including the Letea forest) by constructing the new

Bystroye Canal The Deepwater Navigation Course "Danube – Black Sea" is a deep-water canal in the Danube Delta that runs through the Danube Delta distributaries Chilia, Old Istambul and "Bystroe". Through most of its length it coincides with the R ...

.https://www.nineoclock.ro/2023/02/17/transport-minister-signals-are-that-ukraine-starts-dredging-bystroe-canal-with-impact-on-environment-on-danube-delta/

References

External links

Danube Delta - Letea Forest Danube Delta AttractionsDanube Delta Biosphere Reserve - UNESCO World Heritage Center
{{authority control 1938 establishments in Romania National parks of Romania Tourist attractions in Tulcea County Flora of Romania Nature reserves in Romania Geography of Tulcea County