NATURAL RESOURCES
Hydrologic System
The main and most important natural resource of the Yaroslavl Region is water stock. The territory of the Region is crossed by 4327 rivers whose total length is about 20,000 km. (12,428 miles) while the total area of the local lakes is about 5 000 km2 (50,000 ha). The Yaroslavl Region has 83 lakes; the biggest of them are Nero Lake in Rostov and Pleshcheyevo Lake in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Pleshcheevo, Somino, Vashutinskoe, Chashnikovskoe, Ryumnikovskoe, and Lovetskoe lakes are located in the State Natural History Park. These lakes were formed from melting glaciers about 70 000 years ago.
The largest river is the Volga, its extension across the Yaroslavl Region is 340 km. (about 211 miles). It flows through two reservoirs - the Uglich Reservoir and the Rybinsk Reservoir, the largest artificial lake in Central Russia. In addition to being a source of drinking water, local residents like to come here to relax, take part in water sports, and fish.
The total surface water storage of the Yaroslavl Region is 38 km3. Surface water reserves amount to 254 km3, and underground water reserves are also substantial. In addition, large reserves of various kinds of mineral waters have been explored, and more than 30 wells have been drilled to recover them. There is great emphasis on protecting water resources in Yaroslavl Region. Thus, 55 water bodies, including 23 rivers, 16 lakes, and a number of freshwater springs, ponds, and mineral springs have been classified as natural monuments.
There are more than 1000 bogs covering an area of 95 600 hectares in this part of Russia. Twenty-one of these have been declared natural monuments. Bogs play a major role in nature by soaking up water, retaining it, and feeding it into rivers uniformly throughout the year. Rare plants listed in the Red Book grow in the bogs. Local residents gather cranberries, cloudberries, and bilberries, which are considered valuable medicinal plants. The largest nesting colony of black-headed gulls on the left bank of the Volga is located in the Tarakan bog.
Forest Resources
Forests comprise another important local resource. The Yaroslavl Region is located within the forest zone of Russia, its northern part lying within the western area of the taiga-type coniferous forests. The forest area of the Yaroslavl Region totals 1,800,000 ha. The average percentage of forest land is 45.3% (about 1 807 300 hectares). The Yaroslavl Region has both primary and secondary timber processing industries.
Besides, the forests of the Yaroslavl Region provide many other valuable vegetative resources, such as mushrooms, berries, medicinal and technical raw materials. About 1130 different plant species, many of them rare (9 are listed in the Red Book of the RF), grow in the forests. There are also about 230 kinds of medicinal herbs, more than 20 of which are collected. Forests are not only a habitat for animals and birds; they are also recreational areas for people.
With 175,200 ha of the Yaroslavl Region occupied by marshes, a considerable part of the local plant formation is mire vegetation.
Fauna
The fauna of the Yaroslavl Region is quite varied and includes about 350 species, such as more than 40 kinds of fish (the carp, the pike, the burbot, the perch, etc.), more than 300 kinds of avifauna (the wild duck, the black grouse, the capercailye, the woodcock) and more than 50 mammals (the elk, the wild boar, the hare, the bear), including roaming game from the neighbouring regions and those specially brought to the local hunting farms. Hunting and fishing are quite popular in the Yaroslavl Region and there is a good potential for expanding the use of the local game and fish resources.
Some of the animals inhabiting the region are listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. They include the muskrat, black crane, osprey, peregrine falcon, golden eagle, white-tailed sea eagle, and common bullhead. The Darwin Preserve and 20 game reserves have been established in the region to protect wildlife, especially rare animals. Beaver preserves are located on the Lakhost and Obnora rivers.
Natural Raw Materials and Fuel-Energy Resources
Among the natural resources of the Yaroslavl Region are sand and gravel, brick earth and haydite raw materials, construction sand, peat and sapropel. There are also oil deposits and prospects of discovering gas fields.
There are more than 900 peat fields in the Yaroslavl Region, each with an area of over 10 ha. Their total peat reserves amount to over 250,000,000 tons.
The Yaroslavl Region has 39 lakes with prospected sapropel reserves of over 130,000,000 tons. Nero Lake alone has about 110,000,000 tons. Sapropel is used in raw form as fertilizer, and in processed form as a component in manufacturing rubber and paints and in the oil refining industry.
The explored and blocked-out reserves of multi-purpose low-melting clays and loams, mineral paints, sand and gravel materials amount to over 200,000,000 m3 and to about 80,000,000 m3 of construction sand.
Mineral Waters
There are 7 deposits of subsurface mineral waters of medicinal-table and balneal varieties in the Yaroslavl Region. The most well-known brands are Uglichskaya Mineral Water and Nekrasovskaya Mineral Water. The mineral springs near the Settlement of Nekrasovskoye, located 35 km. (circa 22 miles) from Yaroslavl, are the basis of Bolshiye Sohly Interregional Medical Centre and the Maliye Sohly Sanatorium. Quite popular are the Uglich Sanatorium located in a very picturesque spot on the bend of the Volga and a hospital offering therapeutic bathing treatments in Yaroslavl.
Land Resources
The Yaroslavl Region has 3,617,800 ha of available land. Agricultural lands of all kinds of land tenure comprise 32% of the total land stock of which 70% is arable lands and 29 % - forage croplands and meadowlands. The agricultural land is divided into cultivated land (801 100 hectares), pasture (225 000 hectares), and hayfields (109 400 hectares).
Local residents care deeply about the natural resources. Construction is carried out under special projects so as not to spoil the region's natural beauty.