Matsalu National Park (previously Matsalu Nature Reserve, , often just Matsalu) is a nature reserve and national park situated in Lääne and Pärnu Counties, Estonia. Matsalu National Park spans an area of , comprising Matsalu Bay, the Kasari River delta, the village of Matsalu and surrounding areas.
Matsalu Bay is one of the most important wetland bird areas in Europe, due to its prime position on the East Atlantic Flyway. Large numbers of migratory birds use Matsalu as a staging area. Every spring over two million waterfowl pass Matsalu, of which around 1.6 million are long-tailed ducks.
Matsalu National Park is a home for a number of endangered species, many of which are listed in the Estonian IUCN Red List, including the white-tailed eagle of the highest conservation category, a lot of bird species of the second and third protection categories, 22 strongly protected plant species, the natterjack toad, and ten species of mammals of the second conservation category.
Description
Matsalu National Park covers a total area of , encompassing Matsalu Bay along with the delta of the Kasari River and its surrounding areas — floodplains, coastal meadows, reedbeds, woodlands, wooded meadows, and the section of Väinameri around the mouth of the bay, which includes more than 50 islands. of the protected area is terrestrial and is aquatic. Matsalu Bay is shallow, brackish and rich in nutrients. The bay is long and wide, but has an average depth of only and a maximum depth of . Water salinity is approximately 0.7 per mil. Shoreline length of the bay is about . The bay's shoreline lacks high banks and is populated mostly with shingle shores, with muddy and overgrown reed in the innermost, sheltered part of the bay.
Kasari River is the biggest of several rivers that run into Matsalu Bay. The delta of the Kasari River is not in its natural condition due to dredging between 1930 and 1960; the alluvial meadow of the delta (), most of which is actively managed, is one of the biggest open wet meadows in Europe. Reeds and rushes surrounding the main channel expand westwards up to every year. Annual inflow into the Matsalu Bay from the Kasari River exceeds the volume of the bay itself approximately eight times; average seasonal variation of the Kasari River exceeds . The rivers carry large quantities of nutrient-rich sediments into the bay from an over drainage basin. The sediments are deposited in river estuaries, allowing reedbeds to expand.
A total of 282 bird species have been recorded in Matsalu, among which 175 are nesting and 33 are transmigrant waterfowl. 49 species of fish and 47 species of mammals are registered in the area of the nature reserve, along with 772 species of vascular plants.
Every spring over two million waterfowl pass Matsalu, including 10,000—20,000 Bewick's swans, 10,000 greater scaups, common goldeneyes, tufted ducks, goosanders and many others. A colony of up to 20,000 barnacle geese, over 10,000 greylag geese and thousands of waders stop on the coastal pastures in spring. The most numerous birds of passage (around 1.6 million) are long-tailed ducks. Approximately 35,000—40,000 ducks feed in the reedbeds in spring. In autumn, about 300,000 migratory waterfowl pass Matsalu. The wetland is the biggest autumn stopping ground of common cranes in Europe. The highest recorded number of cranes at the park has been 23,000.
History
Scientific research in Matsalu started around 1870, when Valerian Russow, the curator of the Natural History Museum of the University of Tartu, gave a short overview of birds near Matsalu Bay. Between 1928 and 1936 Eerik Kumari researched birds in Matsalu and suggested a creation of the bird protection area there in 1936. In 1939, parts of the bay (Virtsu-Puhtu) were protected for mud used in mud-baths.
Research in Matsalu became regular in 1945, when the Institute of Botany and Zoology of the Estonian Academy of Sciences established a research base in Penijõe. Matsalu Nature Reserve was founded in 1957, mainly to protect nesting, moulting and migratory birds. The first permanent workers (administrators and scientists) started in 1958 and the Penijõe research base became the administrative centre of the newly created nature reserve. The Estonian Bird Ringing Centre (), the coordinator of bird ringing in Estonia, is also located in Penijõe.