Letea Forest is the oldest natural reservation in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. 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, funga, or features of geologic ...

. 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 ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

. It covers an area of approximately . This

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

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

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. 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, funga, or features of geologic ...

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-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, 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 (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. 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 Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

.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 ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names vari ...

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 genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, p ...

English oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soil ...

, silver lime,

narrow-leafed ash ''Fraxinus angustifolia'', the narrow-leaved ash, is a species of ''Fraxinus'' native to Central Europe and Southern Europe, Northwest Africa, and Southwest Asia.Flora Europaea''Fraxinus angustifolia''/ref>Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britai ...

and

common alder ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations whe ...

. Along with those above, it is completed by a great diversity of

sub-shrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often intercha ...

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''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

, the roller, the

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...

, the ''

Vipera ursinii ''Vipera ursinii'' is a species of venomous snake in the subfamily Viperinae of the family Viperidae. It is a very rare species, which is in danger of extinction. This species is commonly called the meadow viper, Ursini' s viper, Mallow D, Ludw ...

'' 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.Tulcea: Animalele semi-salbatice ameninta Padurea Letea
. greenreport.ro. Retrieved on 2008-07-23.

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