Republican Yelnya nature reserve to develop cranberry agro-estate
The agro-estate plans to welcome guests, and operate a cranberry processing facility, perhaps making juice drinks, explains reserve Director Ivan Borok, incorporating the use of herbs. Tourists will arrive on horses, with the first booked in for 2015.
The Ozeravki loop path is currently being laid, to be accessible for those with less mobility, notes Ivan. “In future, a new ecological path may appear in Yelnya, passing through various habitats and leading visitors to our pride and joy: Lake Kurganistoye.”
Through 2015, studies in the reserve will continue, including ornithological, entomological and botanical research. Over the next five years, a large private company is investing $100,000 in donor support.
This winter, visitors will be able to join groups tracking wolves, elks and hares: a tourist-trend across Europe. The marshes of Yelnya gained reserve status in 1968, and are located on the border of the Miory and Sharkovshchina districts, in the Vitebsk Region. These wetlands play an important role in preserving biological diversity and local ecology, while also enjoying international value: having been given such status in 2002, through the Ramsar Convention.
Guests from New Zealand, Australia, Cuba, the USA, Germany, Austria, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Italy and other countries have visited Yelnya this year
