Kutsa Sanctuary

The Kutsa sanctuary was created by a decree of 21 June 1994 on the site of a nature park that had existed since 1938, when the territory belonged to Finland. Its area is 520 square kilometres in the south of Murmansk Oblast, at the border with Karelia: bounded by the Tumcha river in the east and Lake Niluttiyarvi in the west. The sanctuary is part of the 'Green Belt of Fennoscandia', a chain of protected forests along the former Soviet-Finnish border. Rare species are protected here: the golden eagle, eagle-owl, lungwort lichen, alpine arnica and the calypso orchid; in the Pyhyakuru gorge — a sacred Lapp place — the endemic Scapania moss lives. The sanctuary's rivers hold 11 fish species: sea trout, char, whitefish, grayling and others. The main draw for tourists is the Kutsayoki river with its numerous rapids and the Big Yaniskengas waterfall (nicknamed 'Mamanya'), one of the signature rafting routes of the North-West. The sanctuary's regime is softer than a reserve's: amateur fishing, licensed hunting, mushroom and berry picking are allowed; passes are nominally required to visit the river.