Kaluzhskie Zaseki Nature Reserve is a state nature
reserve located in the southeast of the Kaluga region on the
territory bordering the Oryol and Tula regions.
The reserve
was established by the Decree of the Government of the Russian
Federation of November 5, 1992.
The structure of the reserve
includes two sections: Northern and Southern. The total area is
18,533 hectares. The plots are 12 km apart from each other: the area
of the Southern plot is 11784 ha, the area of the Northern one is
6749 ha. The reserve is surrounded by a buffer zone within 200 m
from the borders. About 20 rivers and streams flow on the territory
of the reserve.
The climate of the reserve is temperate
continental. West and southwest winds prevail. The average annual
rainfall is 596 mm. The average annual temperature is +4.4 °C.
Panorama of the Russian-Polish battle in 1632
(engraving by Gondius "Defense of Smolensk").
A notch along the
edge of the defensive line is the only image of a notch forest left by a
contemporary of those events. Such notches were temporary, unlike
permanent notches, the trunks in them often fell randomly, and not tops
in the direction of the expected raid.
Kaluga notches - the name
that was used for part of the territory of the Kaluga province, which
was part of the Zaokskaya notch line of the Moscow state. The Kaluga
notches included the Kozelsky, Przemyslsky notches, part of the
Likhvinsky and Belevsky notches. The territory of the reserve included
the Kozelskaya Dubenskaya notch, the southern half of the Kozelskaya
Stolpitskaya notch, as well as fragments of the Belevskaya Bobrikovsky
notch located on the territory of the Kozelsky district.
The
territory, which became part of the Kaluzhskiye Zaseki nature reserve,
has been known from ancient chronicles since the 9th–10th centuries as
part of a large impenetrable massif of broad-leaved forests. Since that
time, a rather intensive agricultural development of this massif by the
Slavs begins. The edge of the forest bordering on the forest-steppe
remained untouched and served as a natural barrier to the movement of
the steppe cavalry and a place of shelter for local residents. For about
500 years, the southern border of broad-leaved forests was preserved by
the specific princes and local residents.
The notch line
consisted of sections of natural barriers - forests, rivers, swamps and
ravines, which were supplemented, “linked” with each other by artificial
structures - forest blockages, ramparts, ditches, gouges, palisades,
stockades, a stake stuffed into the bottom of the river. The forest,
where the notch was established, was called reserved. It was forbidden
to cut trees, hunt, just go in, so that there were not even paths in the
forest.
From the 16th century, the creation and maintenance of a
single notch line became the concern of the Muscovite state and its
tsars. The Pushkar order appointed and maintained a staff of officials
who guarded the notch mainly from the local population. In addition, the
notches were divided into small units, for the protection of which the
inhabitants of the nearest settlements were responsible. The frequent
raids of the Tatars prompted the government to urgently resume the
fortification of the outlying areas - in 1638, the reconstruction of the
Zaokskaya line was carried out. According to the code of Alexei
Mikhailovich in 1649, zasechnye forests were singled out in a separate
category, in addition to patrimonial, local, general, entry and district
forests. From 1638 to 1654, a field army of small numbers advanced to
the notch line only 4 times. The abysses were still guarded by watchmen,
trying to "take away the damage", which at that time were being repaired
in large numbers in the abysses. After the crisis of the beginning of
the 17th century, the population began to increase again, at the same
time industry began to develop. The government, concerned about the
imminent development of the zasechny massifs, in 1659 issued a ban on
establishing new factories in the zasechny forests and near the zasechs
without a special sovereign order. In the second half of the 17th
century, a new reconstruction of the notch line was carried out.
The last time the forests were cut under Peter I during the war with
Charles XII in 1709, after which in 1722 it was allowed to take the best
trees of reserved species in the forests - oak, elm, ash, pine, which
were used for the needs of shipbuilding, artillery , factories and
plants. At the same time, a number of laws were adopted that strictly
limited the use of forests and prescribed artificial reforestation. In
1737, the Kozelskiye notches were taken over by the Tula Arms Plant and
were used for harvesting wooden parts for guns, firewood, and burning
coal. In 1732, Anna Ioannovna issued an instruction "On the plant and
sowing for the fleet again forests." It recommends: “Oak and other trees
suitable for the fleet should be cleaned, preserved and planted in
convenient places for forest crops; cut off the cleaned and sown areas
with ditches. The sites of the oldest oak cultures that have survived to
this day, as well as fragments of boundary ramparts, probably belong to
this time. By the end of the 18th century, the state of plantings in the
zasechnye forests deteriorated.
Paul I initiates significant
transformations in forestry. First of all, this is the establishment of
the Forest Department and the issuance of instructions to the
foresmeisters, who were to "not only preserve, but also re-cultivate
forests." In 1798 - 1804, reforms were carried out in the field of
protection, afforestation, and forest education. In 1845, the first
forest inventory was carried out in the Kozelsky Zasek. The quarterly
network and the numbering of quarters have remained almost unchanged to
this day.
In the late XIX - early XX centuries, the creation of
forest plantations in the Kaluga Zasek continued. Since 1914, the
creation of crops and care for them have been discontinued. Since 1917,
cuttings have been carried out "the most disorderly, mostly selective,
there were also continuous cuttings in small areas on the best soils in
order to clear and transfer to other lands." The origin of the modern
generation of trees of a significant part of the small-leaved (primarily
aspen) and coppice broad-leaved forests dates back to this time.
Only in 1937 were unsystematic cuttings stopped and silviculture resumed
- oak plantations were planted in small areas inside the acres. During
the Second World War, forest management again became erratic; especially
significant cuttings in the aisles were made during 1941-1943, when the
front lines passed along the right bank of the Vytebet and Zhizdra. In
the first post-war years, pine and spruce cultures were established. In
the 1970s - 1980s, spruce crops were especially actively created. Until
the mid-1980s, active secondary forest management continued (first of
all, forest grazing, removal of dead wood, collection of deadwood).
Nevertheless, large areas of broad-leaved forests turned out to be
slightly disturbed. The main reason that determined the high
conservation of forests was the administrative-geographical position of
the territory - in one way or another it was borderline for many
centuries. Long before the creation of the reserve, nature management in
this territory was limited for various reasons. In the 15th-17th
centuries, the forests of the zasek preserved their defensive
significance on the border of the state from destruction; in the
XVIII-XIX centuries - the care of the state about the reserves of ship
and timber timber; in the 20th century - the lack of (satisfactory roads
and a reduced (especially after the Second World War) population.
Flora
Scientists have documented 726 species of
vascular plants belonging to 94 families, plus 85 lichens, 138 mosses,
and more than 500 species of macrofungi (earlier inventories recorded
189 fungi, seven of which are in the Red Data Book of Russia). Of the
vascular plants, 54 are trees and shrubs; the rest are herbs, dwarf
shrubs, or aquatics. The largest families are Asteraceae (84 spp.),
Poaceae (62), Rosaceae (47), Cyperaceae (37), Caryophyllaceae (33), and
Fabaceae (32). Fifty-five species are regionally rare or narrowly
distributed in Kaluga Oblast; several (including the Baltic marsh-orchid
Dactylorhiza baltica) are listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian
Federation.
Forest types break down as follows:
Broad-leaved
forests (≈ 4,600 ha, roughly 25 % of the total forested area and the
jewel of the reserve): These are nemoral (broadleaf) stands dominated by
pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata),
European ash (Fraxinus excelsior), wych elm (Ulmus glabra), Norway maple
(Acer platanoides), and field maple (A. campestre). The shrub layer
includes hazel (Corylus avellana), European and common spindle (Euonymus
europaeus, E. verrucosa), honeysuckle, and buckthorn. The herb layer is
extraordinarily rich—nearly 400 vascular species in these stands alone.
In spring the forest floor becomes a continuous carpet of ephemerals:
four species of corydalis (Corydalis spp.), wood anemone (Anemone
nemorosa), ramsons/wild garlic (Allium ursinum), lungwort (Pulmonaria
obscura), lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis), primroses, and
goosefoot. Ferns are abundant: male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), ostrich
fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), and shield-ferns. These forests turn
spectacular shades of yellow, gold, and crimson in autumn.
Secondary
birch forests (≈ 25 %): Betula pendula and B. pubescens on former
clearings, with a rich understory of hairy sedge (Carex pilosa), wood
speedwell, wild strawberry, and cow parsley.
Aspen stands (≈ 4,000
ha, mostly southern section): Similar herb layer to the oak-lime
forests.
Pine forests (≈ 12 %, 2,000 ha): Pinus sylvestris with both
nemoral (broadleaf-admixed) and boreal elements; bracken, reed grass,
and sweet vernal grass in the field layer.
Spruce plantations (≈ 12
%): Mostly cultivated Picea abies; typical boreal herbs such as wood
sorrel and may-lily.
Floodplain black-alder thickets (1–2 %): Alnus
glutinosa with ostrich fern, wood horsetail, meadowsweet (Filipendula
ulmaria), purple loosestrife, and marsh marigold.
Meadows and willow
thickets (≈ 3 %): Support hundreds of hygrophytic and mesophytic
species, including Siberian iris (Iris sibirica), early-purple orchid
(Orchis mascula), and several regionally protected orchids.
The
reserve also hosts rare relict and disjunct species such as European
wild ginger (Asarum europaeum), perennial honesty (Lunaria rediviva),
and several Red Book ferns and orchids. Bison grazing since the early
2000s has created dynamic transition zones with higher nitrophilous
plant diversity and altered earthworm communities (seven earthworm
species recorded, with Aporrectodea caliginosa dominant).
Fauna
The vertebrate fauna totals approximately 286 species: 55–65 mammals,
167–206 birds, 5 reptiles, 9–10 amphibians, and 20–22 fish.
Invertebrates are still being inventoried but already show exceptional
richness—e.g., 1,045 butterfly/moth species (reserve + immediate
surroundings), 112 ground-beetle species, hundreds of rove beetles,
longhorn beetles, and click beetles. Ground beetles serve as excellent
indicators of old-growth forest health.
Mammals (≈ 55–63 reliably
recorded):
Large ungulates: Moose (Alces alces), roe deer
(Capreolus capreolus), and wild boar (Sus scrofa) are abundant and
visible on forest edges and meadows.
European bison (Bison bonasus):
Reintroduced naturally from neighbouring Orlovskoye Polesye National
Park since 2001; a free-ranging herd now numbers several hundred
individuals across the Kaluga–Oryol forest cluster (one recent census
recorded 548 bison associated with the reserve area). They maintain open
meadows by grazing and browsing, influencing vegetation structure and
soil fauna.
Predators: Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and grey wolf (Canis
lupus) are resident and relatively common; brown bear appears
sporadically. Smaller carnivores include European badger, red fox, pine
marten, stoat, and European mink.
Semi-aquatic: Eurasian beaver
(Castor fiber) creates numerous ponds and wetlands; river otter and the
critically endangered Russian desman (Desmana moschata, Red Data Book of
Russia) occur along streams.
Bats: Include the giant noctule
(Nyctalus lasiopterus), also Red Book-listed.
Birds (206 species
recorded):
The reserve is an important breeding and migration site.
Ninety species are rare or protected at various levels. Highlights:
Raptors: Lesser spotted eagle (3–5 breeding pairs), short-toed
snake-eagle (1–2 pairs), booted eagle, black kite, honey buzzard,
goshawk, and occasional peregrine falcon and white-tailed eagle.
Black stork (Ciconia nigra, 4 pairs) — a flagship species of old-growth
forests.
Woodpeckers: Middle spotted (100–280 pairs), white-backed,
green, and three-toed woodpeckers.
Grouse: Western capercaillie
(Tetrao urogallus).
Other forest birds: Grey-headed woodpecker,
collared flycatcher (very abundant), blackbird, and various owls and
nightjars.
Migratory waterbirds and waders use the wetlands and river
valleys; common crane (3–4 pairs) breeds.
Herpetofauna and fish:
Amphibians (10 spp.): Grass frog and common newt dominate; pool frog is
rare and restricted to the Vytebet River.
Reptiles (5 spp.): Typical
forest lizards and snakes (exact species not always listed publicly for
protection reasons).
Fish (20–22 spp. including the buffer zone):
Small-stream specialists; European bullhead (Cottus gobio) is Red
Book-listed.
Invertebrates are dominated by forest specialists
(beetles, butterflies, spiders, earthworms). Studies show high diversity
of Carabidae (ground beetles) in the Luvisol and Phaeozem soils under
ancient oaks.
Conservation Significance and Access
Kaluzhskie
Zaseki is a key node in the Central Russian bison reintroduction
programme and one of the best-preserved broadleaf forest ecosystems in
Europe. It serves as a scientific reference site for studying natural
forest dynamics, large-herbivore impacts, and old-growth biodiversity.
Public access is limited (strict reserve rules), but a nature education
centre in Ulyanovo is open daily, and guided eco-trails (2.7 km northern
+ 5+ km southern circular) allow supervised visits focused on birds,
plants, and bison. The reserve actively supports environmental education
and ongoing inventory work.