Kursh Cape

Unesco's Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organization has recognized Lithuania's Kursh Cape as a World Cultural Heritage in 2000 with the Russian Federation.

The Kursh Cape is a narrow strip of land about 98 km long, curved into a peninsula that separates Kursh from the Baltic Sea. The Kursh headlands start from the Samland peninsula to the port city of Klaipea in Lithuania.

This heritage is owned by Lithuania and Russia. The northern part of the 52-km cape belongs to Lithuania, the rest belongs to Russia. The width of the headland ranges from 400 meters to a maximum of 3,800 meters.

The Kursh Cape was formed about 5,000 years ago. In the period from 800 to 1016, this is the main commercial center of the region. In the 13th century, the area began to have many buildings built including several large castles such as: Mernel Castle built in 1252; Neuhausen Castle (1283) and Castle Rossitten (1372) .

However, in the following centuries, this cape area was subjected to great changes when the forest system and ecosystem were seriously destroyed by the logging of shipbuilding and grazing. . The sand dunes began to form and the entire area suffered from sand storms, many villages were buried during that time. Until the 18th century, the restoration of forest and ecological systems was carried out. The government called on people to plant forests and restore the flora. Thanks to the relentless efforts that the Kursh cape can recover and have the same diversity of plants today.

Cape Kursh complains in the Russian Federation

Centuries before the inhabitants of this area were mostly Kursi, a small number of Germans and Lithuanians, the numbers of Kursii were declining due to many reasons. So far almost no Kursii are seen living at the headland of Kursh, the inhabitants living in the country so far still live mainly on fishing.

The Kursh Cape is part of Lithuania.

The Kursh Cape has many notable values ​​including: this is the highest sand noise in Europe with a height of up to 60 meters. In the cape area, there is a large lake called the Swan Lake and the pine forest Korolev . Korolev pine forest has 72% of the covered area, including about 600 species of woody plants, shrubs and herbaceous plants. Flora and fauna in the forest has 296 species. The Kursh Cape is also known as the bird bridge because it is the oldest migration route of about 150 bird species from Northern Europe to Southern Europe and North Africa. There is still the first bird research station in the world.

For years, the Kursh headlands also have a beach for visitors to enjoy the Baltic Sea . Thanks to the climate suitable for resting, this area is very attractive to tourists especially during the period from May to November every year.

The Kursh Cape is recognized as a world cultural heritage by criterion (v): The cape is a prominent example of the problem of natural landscapes threatened under the pressure of people and nature can still live missed if protected. Evidence is that the headland of Kursh has been continually threatened during a long period of time by nature and human destruction, thanks to the reconstruction programs in this area that have stabilized and continued to grow. to present.

Despite significant achievements in such reconstruction work, in recent years, environmental activists have been somewhat concerned about the environment here. The reason is that residents living in the area rely on fishing and fishing, the pollution of the sea and the whole coastal area is becoming clearer. Besides, the oil exploitation since 2005 here is also the reason for increasing the many risks of environmental pollution in the whole region.

The number of tourists increasing each year is also an issue affecting the natural environment, leading to an imbalance in the ecosystem of many marine animals. Currently the government is discussing a solution to restrict tourism and ban travelers from traveling in certain places but this issue is still being discussed and considered.