Tsentralnolesnoi Preserve

a preserve in the southwestern part of Kalinin Oblast, in the watershed between the Volga and the Western Dvina, 30 km north of the city of Nelidovo. The preserve was established in 1931 for the protection and study of the natural complex of the spruce forests and upriver sphagnum bogs of the forest zone of the European USSR. In 1977 the preserve covered an area of 21,348 hectares.

The predominant soils in the preserve are of the podzolic, peat-podzolic, and peat types. The preserve contains more than 500 species of higher plants. The basic plant community is made up of representatives of the boreal and nemoral complexes. There are some arctic boreal relicts, such as dwarf birch, cloudberry, the cranberry Oxycoccus microcarpus, and bog bilberry, as well as ancient taiga tertiary species that are found near the Siberian spruce, namely, the fern Cystopteris fragilis and the fern Polystichum lonchitis. Small stands of spruce-broad-leaved forests with linden, maple, and elm occur on soddy podzolic soils.

Mammals common in the preserve include the Eurasian brown bear, wolf, lynx, European elk, wild boar, beaver, marten, otter, European mink, ermine, weasel, European badger, common squirrel, and the flying squirrel Pteromys volans. The wood lemming is a relict species of the last glaciation. The preserve has 150 species of birds.