Landscapes

The formation of the grandiose landscape of Põhja-Kõrvemaa has been influenced mainly by the continental ice. There are two ice-marginal formations in the reserve: Aegviidu-Paukjärve that is approximately 16 km long and Kulli-Koitjärve that is about 8 km long. There are eskers with steep slopes about 100 metres in height, kames and plains. Bogs formed from former lakes are situated between and around the ridges and kames. Deep lakes are in the basins that mark the spots of buried icebergs.

Forests

• Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve was founded in 1991 on the area of a closed military training ground. In 1997, the reserve was renamed as a landscape reserve and, in 2007, again a reserve. The area is 13,157.9 ha.
• Põhja-Kõrvemaa is a landscape with forests, bogs and lakes that have formed on eskers and the valleys between them.
• Two ice marginal formations remind us of the last Ice Age: Aegviidu-Paukjärve and Kulli-Koitjärve.

• Try not to leave traces behind when travelling in the nature.
• One is allowed to stay and pick berries and mushrooms in the whole reserve, except for the conservation zones of Kasse and Rame from 1 February to 31 July and the conservation zones of the islets of Kõbaja and Rame from 15 March or, in the presence of a permanent ice-sheet, from the breaking of the ice-sheet until 15 July.
• Permission to stay and forage on a private property requires permission from the land owner if the land is restricted and marked.
• Use given roads to move around with a motor v

Virtsu castle and manor park

Puhtu-Laelatu Nature Reserve was established and the protection procedure was determined in 2003. The current protection rules entered into force on 26 October 2017.

The protection procedure determines the different zones of the reserve and the prohibited and permitted actions in these zones. In addition, an implementing plan of action (management plan) is compiled regarding the reserves. The management plan of Puhtu-Laelatu Nature Reserve, including Rame limited-conservation area, has been compiled for the years 2018–2027.

Puhtulaid was inhabited in the middle of the 18th century, when a local landowner, Carl Thure von Helwig, who was a district executive, established a summer resort here and redesigned the deciduous forest into a Dutch garden. A so-called Chinese house and many smaller houses and pavilions were built on the islet. The landowner Von Helwig was also an eager stonemason, who made tens of monuments for the important people in his family. Some of these monuments have survived and have been gathered to a small valley in the southern point of the peninsula.

Coastal meadow

The islets of Adralaid and Puhtulaid were taken under protection for the first time in 1939, the prohibited botanical-zoological area of Virtsu-Laelatu-Puhtu was founded in 1957 and Puhtu-Laelatu Nature Reserve was first founded in 2003.

The wooded meadow of Laelatu is considered one of the most species-rich communities in Europe with more than 400 species of vascular plants and 30 species of moss growing there. In addition, 2/3 of all the orchid species growing in Estonia have been found in the wooded meadow.

• Drive a vehicle only on designated roads. As an exception, it is permitted to drive a motor vehicle on the ice-sheet of the River Emajõgi and Lake Peipus and off-road vehicles on the ice-sheet of the bodies of water in the reserve and on the Piirissaar Island when it is covered with snow.
• It is allowed to drive water vessels on the waters in the reserve, except a water vessel with an engine on Lake Koosa. It is prohibited to drive water vessels with an internal combustion engine on lakes smaller than 100 ha.

The Peipsiveere Nature Reserve has been created in order to protect the local nature. In Emajõe Study Trail (length 3 km) you can enjoy the nature of riverbank Emajõgi and wet forrest. The trail starts from the Emajõe- Suursoo Nature Centre, wanders around the riverfront flood plain, on the bog meadows with cane turfs and passes through a bog birch shrub. The study trail is influenced by the high water of the river, so during the flood it's not passable.