Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve

Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve is a protected area in Harju County, Northern Estonia, some 50 km east of Tallinn. With an area of 130.9 km2, it is the third largest nature reserve in Estonia. Dominated by forests and bogs, it aims to protect rare and endangered species, their habitats, and valuable natural landscapes.Põhja-Kõrvemaa occupies the northern part of Kõrvemaa, which itself forms the northern part of Transitional Estonia, a large forested and sparsely populated area spanning in northeast-southwest direction through Estonia, from Lahemaa through Soomaa to Latvia.HistoryPõhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve was established in the end of 1991, a few months after Estonia regained its independence. Throughout the Soviet Era a large part of the nature reserve's current territory was used by Soviet Army for military training and as such was closed to the public. The proving grounds were established in 1947 and in 1953 expanded to 33 304 ha (333 km2), making it the biggest Soviet military polygon in Estonia. Still, the Soviet Army damaged only about 10% of the proving grounds' territory, leaving the rest intact. Due to unsuitability for agriculture (poor and/or badly drained soils) the whole region has always been very sparsely populated – in the beginning of the 1950s the population density was around 1 people per km2 – but still a few hundred people were displaced together with the creation of proving ground.