The Kronotsk Biospheric Nature Preserve has reopened after being shut for a month. Tourists can again relish its famous Valley of Geysers. In 1996, it was put on the UNESCO list of the world’s natural heritage.
In fact, there are only four places in the world where one can see geysers.
The Kronotsk preserve has taken a “month off” annually since 1995 so as not to disturb Kamchatka brown bears during the mating season. This year, the closure had to be postponed for two weeks because the bears came out of hibernation later than they normally do due heavy snowfalls. Upon awakening, the bears hurry to the Valley of Geysers where grass, warmed by thermal springs, sprouts weeks earlier than anywhere else on the peninsula. The bears stock up on vitamins ahead of the “honeymoon”.
In June, zoologists counted up to 120 bears in the valley.
A “month of silence” benefits all inhabitants of the preserve. Birds make nests, often near wood-paved paths running across the place, endangered one-year plant species come into bloom, and big-horn mountain sheep give birth to lambs.
Only organized tours to the geysers are allowed. Now that the temporary restrictions have been lifted, those who want to see and listen how the Earth “breathes”, are brought there by helicopter, the only means of getting to the scenic valley hidden in a deep canyon.
Continued from Lena ...The Valley of geysers with more than 200 hot springs located in the territory of 4 square kilometers has long made Kamchatka a world famous destination. Deputy Director for Scientific Research at the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, Vladimir Mosolov, comments:"This nature reserve is unique not only for Russia but for the whole world. There are only four places on the planet where you can find geysers: Iceland, New Zealand, Yellowstone national park in the US and Kamchatka."
When the Valley marks ‘a month of silence’, tourists are not allowed to enter the reserve not to disturb the local bears during their mating season. Imposing temporal bans on tourism has long become usual practice in nature reserves worldwide. For the Kronotsky Nature Reserve it turned out to be a compulsory measure after a powerful mud torrent hit the valley on June 3, 2007, burying many of the hot springs under stones and depriving the bears from vast territories of their habitat. Luckily, a year was enough for these geysers to be renewed. Video cameras were installed in the Valley last year to let more people worldwide enjoy breathtaking views of the Kamchatka geysers.
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