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Saimaa is a
labyrinthine watercourse whose waters flow slowly from north to south
and finally through its outflow channel, the Vuoksi, southeast over the
Russian border into Ladoga, Europe’s largest lake. The Saimaa drainage
region covers most of the southern part of eastern Finland, a region about
the size of Belgium, extending almost to Lake Oulujärvi in the north
and just over the Russian border in the east. In places, there is more
shoreline here per unit of area than anywhere else in the world, the total
length being nearly 15,000 km. The number of islands and skerries in the
region, 33.000, also shows what a maze of detail the system is.
Note: ‘Saimaa’ is used here to
refer to the Saimaa basin, the central area of the Saimaa lake system or
drainage region, consisting of several interconnected lakes of which Lake
Saimaa proper, the principal lake in the system, is one.
Saimaa was created by the continental ice
sheet in the Ice Age 12.000
years ago. Ice more than a kilometre thick then covered the entire
area; when it melted, Saimaa gradually emerged through various stages as a
freshwater basin separate from the sea and about 76 metres above sea level.
One can say that the Saimaa lakeland scenery is a
naturally sculpted masterpiece among all the chains of inland lakes in
Northern Europe. Vast stretches of open water scattered with hundreds of
islands, islets and skerries are followed by narrow, river-like channels
and sounds.
Typical boreal species include elk, mountain
hare, beaver, fox, badger, flying squirrel, pine marten and raccoon-dog.
Fish-eating mammals are mink, otter and the most famous of them all, the
Saimaa ringed seal.
Saimaa seals, like some species of shrimps at the the bottom of Lake Saimaa,
are relics of the connection between the lakes of Eastern Finland and
the present Baltic Sea, which ended some 8000 years ago.
Another prominent feature is the south boreal forest, which covers
over 80% of the land area. The northern forest is mainly Scots pine and
spruce interspersed with birch and aspen.
Birds of the coniferous forest such as capercaillie,
black grouse and hazel hen and many birds of prey like the buzzard, honey
buzzard, goshawk, northern hobby, eagle owl and ural owl also inhabit the
area.
Large predators like the brown bear, lynx and wolves are seen
less frequently. |
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