Luitemaa Nature Reserve is situated in the most beautiful coastal and natural landscape of the southwestern part of Estonia in Pärnu County. The reserve was established in the year 2000 by merging a former reserve, single nature monuments and areas of high natural value.
The landscape of the reserve is very versatile: a sea with a disjunct shoreline, a beach ridge from the period of the Litoriina Sea dating back 5,000 years, the highest dunes in Estonia, extensive coastal meadows and bogs and different forest types.
There are more than 500 plant species in the reserve, the habitat of the Turkish marsh gladiolus is one of the largest in Europe. There are 275 bird species in Luitemaa, 185 of them are nesters. More than 20,000 water birds from different species stop here during the migration period.
Luitemaa is a part of the Natura 2000 network of the European Union as a natural and bird area. In addition, it belongs to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance and is an internationally important bird area (IBA).