page_title: Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve / History
caption_attribution_description: Floodplain of the Pedja River in Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve near Kirna, Jõgevamaa.
context_page_description: Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Estonia. It is a vast wilderness area which covers 342 km² and consists of a complex of 5 large bogs separated by unregulated rivers, their floodplains, and extensive forests. The nature reserve aims to protect diverse ecosystems and rare species, mainly through preserving the natural development of forests and bogs and securing the continuing management of semi-natural floodplain grasslands.
  Alam-Pedja is situated in Central Estonia northeast of Lake Võrtsjärv, in a lowland area called the Võrtsjärv Basin. It spans over three counties - Tartu, Jõgeva and Viljandi. The area has an especially low density of human population, comparable to that of wolf, bear and lynx.
  The nature reserve was established in 1994. It is recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention and since 2004 it is a designated Natura 2000 site.
  The name Alam-Pedja, translating as Lower-Pedja, comes from the nature reserve's location on the lower reaches of the Pedja River.
context_section_description: The first human inhabitants came to the area of the present nature reserve in the Stone Age. Permanent settlements were established on the shores of Lake Big Võrtsjärv, predecessor of the current lake, which covered large lowland areas to the north and northeast. Fishing was the main occupation which attracted inhabitants to this area for centuries.
  Human activities influenced the area most in the 19th century, when interest in using its natural resources (mainly wood and fish) grew significantly. The main driver behind exploiting the large forests of the area was glass industry, which needed huge amounts of firewood. The first glass workshop was established in Utsali in 1760. In the beginning of 19th century the Võisiku or Rõika-Meleski glass and mirror manufacture on the banks of Põltsamaa River near the western border of the current nature reserve was the largest industrial enterprise in Estonia, employing around 540 people in 1820. After the First World War the majority of glass factories were shut down and intensive forest cutting stopped.
  From 1952 to 1992 Soviet Air Force managed a relatively small bombing range in the northern part of the area. The small village of Utsali was cleared of people for that purpose. The large buffer zone of the bombing range, covering nearly half of the territory of today's nature reserve, ensured the protection of the natural landscape.
  The nature reserve was officially established in 1994 with the help of Estonian Fund for Nature. In 1997 it was included in the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance and since 2004 it is part of the European Union Natura 2000 network.
  Currently the nature reserve has less than 10 permanent inhabitants, and no roads traverse the area. Before the Second World War, 120 people lived in Palupõhja, a village on the left bank of Emajõgi; in 2001, it had five.
caption: Floodplain of the Pedja River near Kirna
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