Slītere National Park () is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

Talsi Municipality Talsi Municipality (; Livonian language, Livonian: ) is a municipality in Courland, Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by Merger (politics), merging Abava parish, Balgale parish, Ģibuļi parish, Īve parish, Ķūļciems parish, Laidze pa ...

, Courland, on the west coast of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Although formally established in 2000, it is based on the former Slītere Nature Reserve, one of the oldest nature reserves in Baltic States. It is the smallest national park in Latvia.

Geography

The park is set in the Courland Peninsula, at the point of cape Kolka that marks the end of the Irbe Strait, the southern way out of the bay of Riga. It covers an area of (including in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

), making it the smallest national park in Latvia. The "Zilie Kalni" or "Blue Hills" are one of the most recognizable geological features of the park. Thousands of years ago, the Zilie Kalni formed the ancient shore of the Baltic ice lake. Further back in time, 40 M years ago, the climate was sub-tropical; fossilized amber from that period is still found by the sea-shore after heavy storms have stirred the sediments on the sea bed.The Baltic coast
video by ''Free High-Quality Documentaries'', on ''youtube.com''. Cape Kolka: 38'16 - 38'30. Slītere national park: 38'31 - 38'42. Ilbe river moor waters reaching the coast: 38'43 - 38'48. Sandbanks: 38'48 - 39'06. Trouts reproducing up river Irbe: 39'06 - 39'33.

Bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

: 39'43 - 40'35. Sub-tropical climate: 42'32 - 42'42. Fossilised amber: 41'12 - 42'29 (notably 42'14 - 42-25). Great grey owl: 43'04 - 43'15. Sea frozen over in winter from cape Kolka to the Estonian islands in the north of the bay of Riga: 44'05 - 44'22. Grey seals: 44'22 - 44'51. The small Irbe River runs south-west/north-east, following the coastal line of the Irbe Strait towards the

, and reaches the sea within the Slītere national park.Irbe river, location map
on ''google.com/maps''. Its brown moor waters constantly move the sandbanks in its estuary. In late Autumn, brown trouts swim upriver to reach their spawning grounds. File:Baltic sea Riga gulf western coast near Kolka.jpg, Riga Bay's western coast near cape Kolka File:Mazais Peterezers.jpg, Lielais Peterezers, lake in Kolka parish, near the Sīkrags hamlet on the western coast of the Courland Peninsula.

Flora

Slītere National Park is famous for the broadleaf forests covering former coastline and for the unique complex of dunes (called ''kangari'' in Latvian) and depressions (''vigas'') featuring inter-dune

bogs 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 Wetland#Types, types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagm ...

. Most of the broadleaf forest is located on the "Zilie Kalni" or "Blue Hills".
Another 30% of the park is covered by coniferous forest. The park hosts hundreds of species of plants and

bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

, 29 species of which are found nowhere else in Latvia.

Fauna

Slītere National Park lies along the Baltic migratory flyways, making Slītere one of the best places in Latvia for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...

.Slītere National Park : fauna
/ref> For example, its sea shore is a stopover in late Autumn for the

bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

on its way south from the northern tundra; the great grey owl migrates here from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in winter. Virtually all species of bird found in Latvia have been observed in Slītere, with many as 60,000 birds per hour having been observed flying over during the spring and fall migrations. The

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is one of the four wikt:extant, extant species within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. It is widely distributed from Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe to Cent ...

, and elk can all be found within Slītere. The national park has many rare species of insect and snail due to its high plant and biome diversity. Along the coast, Baltic grey seals establish their nurseries under the iced-over sea in winter; this is their most southerly location in the world. The rarer ringed seal is occasionally seen.

Human settlements

Slītere protects a large portion of the Līvõd Rãnda - the Livonian Coast, featuring Livonian villages. See Cape Kolka and villages Vaide, Saunags, Pitrags.

Gallery

File:Slīteres bāka (2).jpg, Slīteres lighthouse File:Slīteres nacionālais parks.jpg, Houses with the Slīteres lighthouse in the background File:Košrags.jpg, Košrags village, northwestern coast ( Irbe strait)

References

External links

Northern Kurzeme

Official Latvian Tourism Portal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slitere National Park National parks of Latvia Protected areas established in 2000 2000 establishments in Latvia Talsi Municipality