Onezhskoye Pomorye National Park, National park on Onega Peninsula, Russia
Onezhskoye Pomorye National Park covers 201,668 hectares on the northern Onega Peninsula in Arkhangelsk Oblast, including 21,000 hectares of Unskaya Bay in the White Sea. Its flat terrain rises from 1–2 m at the coast to 200 m on the Onega moraine ridge, with about 2,000 lakes and 95 rivers and streams. It protects one of Europe's last large tracts of old-growth taiga forest.
Work on the park began in 1997, and its boundaries were approved in 2002. On 22 December 2011 the Russian government decided to create the park, which was established on 26 February 2013 as Russia's 45th national park.
The park protects Pomor settlements and wooden churches from the 17th–19th centuries, along with the Chesmensky and Orlovsky lighthouses of the 19th century. The Pomors are a maritime community whose fishing and coastal life shaped the White Sea shore.
The park requires advance permits from authorities before visiting. Access is challenging year-round, though summer months offer more options for traveling to and within the area.
Freshwater streams here are home to the European pearl mussel, a rare animal sensitive to water quality. Scientists consider this mussel an important indicator of a healthy aquatic environment.
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