RÉSERVE NATURELLE DE CODRII

The Codri Nature Reserve was created in 1926 by a group of nature lovers who wanted to protect the environmental heritage of the area. These early environmentalists created thirteen forest areas, including the Lozova Forest and Căpriana. The Council of Ministers of Romania (Moldova was then called Bessarabia and was reunited with Romania in 1918) decided on 19 July 1937 to classify these places as "natural monuments". During the Soviet era, the protection of the sites continued with the creation on 15 April 1946 of a nature protection commission within the Moldovan branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. On 27 September 1971, the Codrii State Forest Reserve was established and the total area of all protected sites was 2740 ha, with a strictly protected area of 723 ha. In 1975 other wooded areas were placed under protection, extending the area to 5,009 ha. During the Soviet period, members of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, the State University of Chișinău and the State University of Tiraspol, carried out a great deal of on-site research, such as the mapping of the hydrological network in 1977. Today the reserve is divided into a strictly protected area of 720 ha, a buffer zone of 4,455.8 ha and a transition zone of 12,300 ha. The reserve is home to various species of fauna and flora that you can observe while walking in these enchanting places.