The Delta of Lena

The Lena, the greatest Siberian river, is among the biggest rivers in the world. No other river in Northern Eurasia forms such a vast and grand delta (covering an area of 32,000 square km). Annually, the Lena carries though the delta over 500 cubic km of water. The silt-laden material, which continuously forms the delta, arrives from all over the Lena drainage area at a rate of 15 million tonnes per year.This is a huge network of numerous large and small tributaries, channels and lakes with over 1,500 islands, varying in size. The Ust-Lensky Preserve, occupying an area of 1,433,000 ha, is located in the western part of the Lena Delta. In 1998, the Ust-Lensky Preserve was nominated for inclusion onto the World Heritage list.

Similar to the Lena Delta and its northward branching channels and streams, are the annual migration routes of the birds nesting in the region which connect the north with regions to the east, west and south. Each year in June huge numbers of diving waterfowl - swans, ducks, geese, snipes, phalaropes, gulls, terns, skua, prey during the daytime and singing sparrow birds strive to get there flying along the coasts from east and west, as well as from south flying along the river valley. For the overwhelming majority of the bird species the nesting time they spend in the Delta Preserve is of vital importance.

The mouth of Lena and its 6,500 channels and bypasses and 30,000 lakes form a rich natural habitat that is also very important for fish fauna. Rich zooplankton and zoobenthos of the Lena Delta provide forage for its 36 fish species. The mouths of the river channels are inhabited by various marine mammal species: the white whale, narwhal, walrus, and bearded and ringed seals. Polar bears are also common on the pack ice of the islands situated northward from the Delta. The Laptev Sea population of walrus inhabiting the area (a sub-species that is on the verge of extinction) accounts for only a few hundred animals. Terrestrial mammals inhabiting the preserve represent tundra, mountainous and northern boreal species. Of these, 17 species are indigenous year-round and 8 species periodically migrate in and out of the Preserve. Approximately 30,000 reindeers migrate across the Delta in the summer months, easily negotiating various channels and streams.

The vascular plant flora accounts for 372 species, including 24 species recorded on the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic Red Book, while Trautfetter's blue-meadow grass is of particular interest as an endemic species of the lower reaches of Lena, not encountered elsewhere in the world. The Lena Delta was also a place where individual arctic civilization originated. The Even, the Evenk and the Yakut and later years Russian settlers were successful in sustaining themselves by fishing and hunting in the Lena Delta region. They took the most active part in the discovery and the scientific studies of the Delta of Lena and the New Siberian Islands. Many of the geographical names used in the Laptev Sea and the New Siberian's reflect the role of the local people in regional studies.