Province
of Western Finland, Ostrobothnia Region
Korsholm
(www.korsholm.fi), Vaasa (www.vaasa.fi), Malax (www.malax.fi),
Maxmo (www.maxmo.fi), Korsnäs
(www.korsnas.fi), Vörå
(www.vora.fi),
Nykarleby
(www.nykarleby.fi)
Area: 544 sq.km
The area is managed by
Metsähallitus.
The peaceful and sheltered
inner archipelago of Kvarken is ideal for canoeing and boating. You can explore
the area making use of the reservable hut in Korsholm, for example, or one of
the former pilot stations or coastguard
stations which are now managed by Metsähallitus. The surface area of Kvarken
as a whole is 1281 sq.km.
Some of the islands near the mainland are also accessible by car. You may
start your trip by visiting Terranova - Kvarken
Nature Centre, in the town of Vaasa.
The large archipelago of Kvarken consists of wilderness-like forested islands
and a labyrinth of the rocks and islets of the inner archipelago. In the shallow
waters live fish and birds characteristic for the archipelago. The Black
Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), which is typical for the area, nests
between the rocks. The White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) can
often be seen wheeling over the forested islands.
In
july 2006 The Kvarken Archipelago was incripted on the UNESCO World Heritage List
(whc.unesco.org). The archipelago was inscripted thanks to the land uplift
phenomenon, which is particularly markable in the shallow Kvarken archipelago,
and the large moraine fields, which were formed under the last deglaciation
period. The United Nations organization Unesco seeks to encourage the
identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage
around the world considered to be of outstanding universal valur to humanity.
Take a look at Kvarken Archipelago Nature Reserve related products at the Outdoors.fi online
shop (kauppa.luontoon.fi).
