The nature reserve “Izin”

The reserve “Izin” is located in a secluded area in Pinsk district. It's designed so that the plants and animals listed in the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus were under the daily protection. In total, here you can find 32 species of mushrooms, plants and animals.

The staff of the reserve carefully treat everything that belongs to their territory. Therefore, any excavation, construction, fishing, hunting and trees cutting are prohibited in “Izin”. Compliance with the basic rules of visiting the reserve will save the nature in its original appearance.

General information about the reserve

“Izin” reserve area is 1137.7 hectares. This impressive territory is located in Zhitnovichi forestry. Thickets, flooding woods and deciduous forests are all over here. Here and there you can see rare alder landings. Perennial ferns of this area are the real relics. They grow so long that they can be considered contemporaries of the mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses.

Pinsk marshes are famous for their grandeur throughout the whole world. Most of them were rendered to be arable, while the other remained in its unaltered form. Perhaps it is here where in time of Herodotus a miracle-lake was located, near which a tribe of people who could turn into wolves lived. Folk mythology keeps the legend that the local vast spaces are inhabited with the guardian spirits. Literally, every corner: rivers, lakes, meadows, forests and swamps keep its centuries-old mystery.

Izin meadows are full of bright colours – several kinds of flowers grow here. Lady's-slipper, Melittis sarmatica and Campanula tuberosa can be distinguished among rare plants. Many insects of the reserve derive their energy from here by collecting and eating pollen.

Thousands of tourists come to relax every year far from the city bustle to the reserve “Izin” territory. Enjoying the fresh air and splendour of nature, you wouldn’t like to return home at all. As the fresh air is good for the respiratory system and helps to improve overall health.

The present life of the reserve

The nature reserve “Izin” was named after the village, which was located in this district. There had been hundred houses with a population of little more than a hundred people in the village before the World War II. Izin died in fire at the hands of the German invaders in 1943, but the village was restored somehow after the war.

89 people lived in the village and there were 45 farms in the late XX century. People live in Izin and to this day, but their number is decreasing every year: some people go to the regional centre, the others grow old. All that the left old residents of the village have is the reserve “Izin”, which they are willing to tell about to the tourists and passing people.

Here lies an ecological route for the tourists and guests of our country, who wish to explore the beauties of Belarus and relax while enjoying nature. Hiking and cycling along the forests and meadows paths are available for visitors. The keepers of the reserve often organize trips to explore the beauties of “Izin”.