Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve () is located in the south of Lithuania, in the southern part of the Middle Lithuanian Lowlands, about 30 km east of Alytus. It encompasses 18,490 ha of lakes, wetlands, mires, peatbogs and forests. This variety of habitats supports a rich biodiversity. As the largest wetland complex with a lake in Lithuania is protected by the reserve, Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve is an important place for waterfowl to nest and as a stopover during migration.
Its nature protection status dates back to 1937, it is the oldest nature protection area in Lithuania. Nominated in 2011, it is the first and only site in Lithuania recognised under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme and added to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The population of the area is about 11,000 and includes both small and large landowners.
The visitor center requires tickets that cost €4 for adults, the reduced price is €2 and it's free of charge for children under the age of 6 (2024). However, the trails are free of charge for everyone.
Geography and climate The Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve is located within Alytus and Lazdijai district municipalities in Alytus County, and in Marijampolė municipality in Marijampolė County.
Located in the southern part of the Middle Lithuanian lowlands, the site comprises Žuvintas and Amalvas wetland complexes, which formed in a depression of the limnoglacial plain surrounded by moraine hill ranges, and Bukta forest on moraine plain. Žuvintas, the largest wetland in Lithuania (6,847 ha), encompasses a swampy plain with the shallow lake Žuvintas and the surrounding floodplains. With 971 ha, the Žuvintas lake is only a small remnant of the former post-glacial lake.
Its main inlets are Bambena and Kiaulycia and the river Dovinė is its main outlet. The catchment area of the Žuvintas lake (345 km2) makes up more than half of the river Dovinė catchment area (589 km2). Not only the Žuvintas lake, but also the Amalvas lake belongs to the Dovinė River catchment area. This lake and the Amalva mire lie to the north of Žuvintas and are similar to it, although the mire is smaller (3,414 ha). A third big lake in the reserve is Žaltytis.
The biosphere reserve is located in the climatic subarea 'Nemuno Žemupio' of Lithuania. With an average annual temperature of 7.1-7.4 °C, the subarea's temperature is similar to Lithuania's average. Compared to the previously used 1981-2010 Standard Climate Norm (SCN), the estimated average annual air temperature in Lithuania inreased by 0.5 °C, namely from 6.9 °C in 2020 (based on the 1981-2010 SCN) to 7.4 °C in 2021 (based on the 1991-2020 SCN). The warmest month is July with an average of 18.0-18.1 °C and the coldest are January and February with -3.6 °C to -3.1 °C on average. As for most extreme temperatures, the absolute minimum temperature is -31.2 °C and the absolute maximum temperature is 35.1 °C. Due to these significant seasonal temperature variations, the region has a Dfb classification, according to Köppen-Geiger Climate Classification. There are 600-640mm precipitation per year. Around 65 to 80 days of the year, there is snow and the duration of sunshine amounts 1870 hours per year. Advection of dry continental air masses makes the climate more continental and less moderated by the sea. Thus, the climate is dryer, the summers are hotter and the winters are colder than at the coast.
However, in the area of the biosphere reserve, the water drainage conditions are poor, so there are swamps and wetlands. These make the local climate more humid than is otherwise typical in the region. As a result, the weather is often foggy in spring and autumn. In summer, the wet ground warms slowly, making the weather cooler.
Zones The biosphere reserve is contiguous and, like every UNESCO biosphere reserve, consists of three zones.
The strictly protected zone is called core area. A core zone contributes to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation and therefore settlement is excluded in this area. The core area of the biosphere reserve is either strict nature reserve (IUCN category I - Žuvintas, Buktbale and Liuliškyne) or nature reserves (IUCN category IV - Amalvas, Kiaulycia, Žaltytis, Želsva, Paželsviai and Liepakojai).
The core area is surrounded by the buffer zone. There are around 1,100 inhabitants living within this zone and forestry and agriculture is allowed as long as it is compatible with sound ecological practices. Additionally this zone is especially used for ecosystem restoration, scientific research, monitoring and education.
The largest zone is the transition area. There, sustainable socio-cultural and ecological activities are particularly strongly supported.
Nature The Biosphere Reserve is characterized by a variety of different habitats, resulting in a high biodiversity. Žuvintas is inhabited by more than 4000 species of animals, plants, fungi and lichens, 137 of them are protected species (2019).
Flora Lake Žuvintas is a typical overgrown lake. Its bottom is covered with Chara and Potamogeton species and large surface areas are dominated by aquatic plants (Nymphaea candida, Potamogeton natans, Nuphar lutea). The floating islets of Typha angustifolia are characteristic of the lake.
Reed-swamps, transitional mires, sedge fens and raised bogs surround the lake. Predominantly in the south-east, reed marshes and sedge fens (with dominating Carex omskiana, C. diandra, C. disticha) cover large areas. On the slopes of raised bogs, bogmoss pine forests occur, whereas in open areas, Calluna vulgaris, Eriophorum vaginatum and Sphagnum species (Sph. magellanicum, Sph. fuscum, Sph. rubellum) are the prevailing species. Wet forests surrounding the lake mainly consist of black alder and birch.
Additionally, the Bukta Forest in the reserve is the benchmark of mixed forests of the Central Plain of Lithuania. It contains valuable hornbeam habitats that support plant and fungi species typical of Central European hornbeam and beech forests.
In total, 987 plant species have been identified in the reserve, two of which are protected by the European Union and 30 are listed in the Red Data Book of Lithuania. Additionally, 105 algae and 292 fungi, six of them are listed in the Red Data Book of Lithuania, have been found here. This diversity of habitats and vegetation contributes to outstanding conditions for numerous waterfowl.
Fauna
With now 255 species on the list of birds, the number of bird species in Žuvintas is unmatched in the mainland part of Lithuania. 153 of these species have bred or are currently breeding in the reserve. 42 of the birds are protected by the European Union and 58 are recorded in the Red Data Book of Lithuania. One of the most abundant populations of eurasian bitterns, western marsh harriers and little crakes in the country nest in the lake of Žuvintas. Thousands of cranes and geese, as well as other water and swamp birds rest in the area of the reserve. The aquatic warbler, one of the rarest songbirds in Europe, inhabits the wet meadows of Žuvintas. Being globally endangered, Lithuania is one of the four countries where the aquatic warbler is still breeding. Close to the swamp and Bukta forest is the lake Žaltytis, which is also a crucial place for migratory waterfowl.
There are 45 mammal species in the reserve. Three are protected by the EU and six are registered in the Red Data Book of Lithuania. 23 fish have been found, one of which is under protection of the EU. The number of amphibians and reptiles found in the reserve is 15, of which two are safeguarded by the European Union. 2020 invertebrates populate the reserve. Four of these are protected by the EU and 21 are listed in the Red Data Book of Lithuania.
Protection history
On 28 January 1928, an order of the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania was published which introduced restrictions in Lake Žuvintas and its surroundings. Hunting birds and mammals was prohibited within a 1 km radius around the lake. Throughout the period of independent Lithuania, these hunting restrictions ensuring the legal protection of the reserve were unchanged in force.
The first environmentalist Teofilis Zubavičius arrived in Žuvintas on 5 April 1937 at the invitation of Tadas Ivanauskas, marking the beginning of actual protection. According to written sources, the Žuvintas Reserve was established in 1937, but as no official document naming the exact date of the establishment has survived, it remains unknown.
In the same year, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania expropriated Lake Žuvintas from private individuals to preserve endangered waterfowl. It was handed over to the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Kaunas University. As part of this preservation effort, a warden was appointed.
When the Soviet occupation began, Žuvintas lost its reserve status and on 1 October 1940, it was transferred to the People's Commissariat of the Food Industry of the Lithuanian SSR. On 5 February 1946, the Council of People's Commissars of the Lithuanian SSR instructed the Academy of Sciences "to establish a reserve in the Žuvintas district, which would include the Žuvintas lake and the swamp with a forest in the western district". The first reserve office was established. The area of the Žuvintas reserve was 3167.2 hectares. From 1947 to 1963, the Žuvintas Reserve belonged to the Institutes of Botany, Zoology and Parasitology of the Lithuanian SSR.
However, the status of a reserve did not protect birds and mammels from shooting, as Žuvintas was a favoured hunting place of the Soviet government and party leaders in the first few decades after the war.
From 1960 to 1962, a complex scientific research expedition took place in the Žuvintas Reserve, which was led by the Institute of Zoology and Parasitology.
In 1963, the area of the reserve was increased to 5428 ha, and the management was transferred to the Nature Protection Committee.
In order to expand agricultural lands and make most of fertile land in the Dovinė river basin, land reclamation and wetland drainage projects were carried out since the 19th century. Despite the status of the reserve, the hydrological regime of the Žuvintas swamp continued to be artificially influenced. When the water level began to be regulated by the regulator of the Dovinė River sluice, the process of the lake becoming overgrown and the decline in bird populations was greatly accelerated. In 1965–1975, the transitional mire and the low bog of the northern part of the Žuvintas swamp were degraded, and the hydrological regime of the raised bog was disrupted. More than half of the nearby Amalva swamp was also drained. Gradually, the use of the lake's vegetation and the mowing of most of lakeside meadows were stopped.
From 1979 to 1985, the second complex scientific research expedition of the Žuvintas Reserve was carried out.
In 1993, the Žuvintas Nature Reserve was included in the list of protected areas of the Convention on Wetlands and Shallow Waters (Ramsar). Ramsar sites are recognized as being of significant value not only for the country or the countries in which they are located, but for humanity as a whole.
On 19 November 2002, the government of the Republic of Lithuania established the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve on the basis of the Žuvintas State Nature Reserve, the Žaltytis Ornithological Reserve and the Amalvas Botanical-Zoological Reserve, the area of which is 18490 ha.
In 2004, the territory of the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve was recognised as an important territory for the protection of birds and was included in the Natura 2000 network, which covers territories that meet the criteria for the conservation of natural habitats and species of European importance, as well as areas significant for the protection of natural habitats.