Unfortunately, to admire the untouched beauties of nature in the modern world is a great success. There are fewer and fewer corners on our planet where they take care of nature, and do not use it for their own purposes, where they treat it carefully, and do not drain all possible resources, where they strive to save it, and do not plunder its riches predatory. For the most part, these places are reserves - that is, conservation zones in which trained people monitor the state of the environment, protect it from the harmful effects of humans, and prevent environmental problems. In Russia at the moment there are more than a hundred of such reserves. One of the most amazing is the picturesque reserve "Erzi", which is located in the south of our country - in the Republic of Ingushetia.
Geographical Information
Erzi State Nature Reserve is located in two regions of the Republic of Ingushetia - Dzheyrakhsky and Sunzhensky - in the basin and on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus (the average landscape height in Erzi is about one and a half thousand meters above sea level). Several mountain rivers flow through the reserve, the largest of which are Assa and Armhi - tributaries of the majestic Terek. Erzi is part of the large Ingush reserve of federal significance, only the area of Erzi Nature Reserve is over 35 thousand hectares.
History
The Erzi Nature Reserve was not named so by accident, because it is located on the site of the eponymous settlement, founded in the sixteenth century. The conservation zone has been around for quite some time. But the status of the Erzi Nature Reserve and its environs was acquired in 2000, according to the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. However, at that time the area of the reserve was almost seven times smaller than now. Thanks to the intensive work of biologists, geologists and ecologists, their research and scientific work, the Erzi Reserve included more and more large territories.
Vegetable world
Erzi Nature Reserve attracts scientists and nature lovers with the wealth of its flora. It, as is typical of mountainous areas, is very diverse.
About a third of the reserve’s territory is made up of forests: on the slopes of the mountains - centuries-old oak forests, in the hollow of overgrown willows, a mixed forest. Above in the mountains there is a unique array of hooked pine, which is endemic - that is, it grows only here and nowhere else. Another unique object is the sea buckthorn forest, which is also located in the reserve. And quite high, the forest is replaced by meadows with lush forbs.
Despite such wealth, as in any reserve, the collection of medicinal plants, tree fruits is strictly prohibited at any time of the year.
On the territory of Erzi, more than fifty species of plants are registered that are listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Ingushetia (some of them are also included in the Red Book of Russia).
Animal world
There are also a lot of rare animals in the reserve - 114 species are considered "Red Book" in Ingushetia. The general diversity of the fauna is striking: about six hundred species of invertebrates and about four hundred species of vertebrate animals are registered in Erzi. Moreover, research in this area is ongoing, scientists are constantly working on the discovery of new species of representatives of the plant and animal world that inhabit and grow on the territory of the Erzi Reserve (for example, several new types of helminths were discovered not so long ago).
But back to the more familiar animals. Artiodactyls such as a tour and a chamois are jumping here on the rocky slopes, forest cats and lynxes are hiding on trees in the forests, and peregrine falcons and golden eagles soar in the clean mountain air.
Man-made beauty
In addition to its natural beauty, Erzi State Reserve is also famous for its creations. On the territory there are ancient architectural structures, which are a tower complex. It consists of eight battle towers, two semi-battle towers and as many as forty-seven residential towers. All of them are connected by powerful stone walls, intended, judging by the loopholes, for the defense of the settlement. The height of the battle towers reaches thirty meters - just imagine: it is about the same as a modern nine-story building, and yet the artifacts found here by archaeologists date us back to the eighth century AD.
