Tsentralno-Lesnoy Zapovednik, Russia Photograph by Igor Shpilenok   Northern Europe: Belarus, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, and Sweden Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   326,700 square miles (846,100 square kilometers) -- about thrice the size of Nevada Critical/Endangered

· Land of Rivers and Lakes
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Land of Rivers and Lakes

This is a large region of rich and diverse plant life. Abundant water is found in over 10,000 lakes and about 20,000 rivers. Primeval forests, meadows, and wetlands can be seen in their original state. Much of this ecoregion has fallen prey to human conversion to agriculture, especially in former Communist countries, however large areas of forest remain intact. Along the coasts can be found rocky shores, fjords, cliffs, and glacial valleys. Inland areas are more extensive and contain mixed forests of deciduous and conifer species.

Special Features

Extending from western Norway across to Russia, this water-rich ecoregion provides a transition zone between boreal taiga in the north and broadleaf forests in the south. Species of pine and oak dominate these forests, along with hazelnut trees, European raspberry, yellow archangel, and sweet woodruff. Belovezhskaia Puschcha National Park is an ecological system within the ecoregion that is as unique as its name, where plants and animals that have been eliminated from other parts of Europe still thrive. The European bison was re-established here after becoming extinct in the wild in 1919.

	Most cranes have rasping, raucous calls--far different from the flute-like call of the Siberian crane.

Wild Side

Several dozen important bird areas, such as the Stakhovski marshes of Russia and the Alam-Pedja wetlands of Estonia, support ospreys, white-tailed eagles, Eurasian cranes, and numerous songbirds. The Eurasian curlew and Siberian crane are among the area’s critically endangered species, which also include European bison, European mink, and both pool and moor frogs. These two species of endangered frogs live here and almost nowhere else, and are vulnerable to water pollution and acid rain.

Cause for Concern

Pollution from industrial development threatens the habitats of this ecoregion. Agriculture, urban expansion, logging, hunting, and road building are also problematic. The environment continues to suffer from the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which released radioactive chemicals into the environment in Ukraine. Nearly one-fourth of this territory is still contaminated.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.