Moldova

Europa

407

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Moldova is one of the most intensively farmed countries in Europe: close to three quarters of its territory is agricultural land, so its wild nature survives concentrated in a few islands of forest and in the river corridors of the Prut and the Dniester. The Codrii, in the centre of the country, keep oak, beech and hornbeam woods that recall how the region was before the plough, with roe deer, wild boar, wildcats, badgers and a rich community of woodpeckers. In the south, the Lower Prut lakes form a Ramsar wetland connected to the Danube delta, where pelicans, pygmy cormorants and herons come in to feed. To the north, the limestone outcrops of the Dniester are the remains of reefs from a Miocene sea and hold singular cliff flora and colonies of martins and swifts.

The nature of Moldova

National animal: The aurochs, extinct, appears as the national heraldic emblem; the white stork is the symbolic bird

Did you know?

The coat of arms of Moldova is headed by an aurochs, the great wild ox that gave rise to all domestic cattle and that finally became extinct in Poland in 1627. The animal disappeared from these lands centuries ago, but it remains the country's emblem, one of the few cases in the world in which a national symbol represents a species that is completely extinct.

Biodiversity profile

Europa del Este (entre Rumania y Ucrania)Dato no disponible con precision agregada nacional especifica en fuentes verificadas consultadas; la ecoregion compartida de estepa boscosa del este de Europa tiene solo 5% de proteccion en su conjunto

Climate

•Continental humedo (Dfb/Dfa), moderado, con veranos calidos y inviernos frescos, transicion hacia la estepa pontica

Main biomes

•Estepa boscosa del este de Europa (bioma dominante, mosaico de bosque caducifolio y pastizal)
•Bosque de ribera a lo largo del rio Dniester
•Bosque templado de robles
•Estepa póntica residual
•Lago fluvial
•Bosque de ribera
•Roquedo calcáreo de arrecife fósil
•Pradera inundable

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais practicamente sin litoral, con un pequeño acceso al Danubio)

Flagship wildlife

•Ciervo rojo y corzo (bosques de ribera)
•Aguila esteparia y otras rapaces de la estepa boscosa
•Cigüeña blanca
•Corzo
•Jabalí
•Gato montés europeo
•Tejón europeo
•Pelícano ceñudo
•Cormorán pigmeo
•Nutria paleártica
•Águila pomerana
•Bisonte europeo

Notable endemic species

•Moldavia comparte la ecoregion de estepa boscosa del este de Europa con Rusia, Ucrania, Rumania y Bulgaria, zona de transicion entre el bosque caducifolio templado del norte y la estepa arida del sur

Notable threatened species

•Especies de estepa boscosa en declive por conversion historica casi total a tierra agricola, dado que la region alberga algunos de los suelos mas fertiles de Europa (chernozem)
•Solo 5% de la ecoregion de estepa boscosa del este de Europa (compartida entre 5 paises) cuenta con proteccion formal

Notable protected areas

•Zonas protegidas del valle del rio Dniester, compartidas en parte con Ucrania
•Reserva Natural de Codrii
•Reserva de Pădurea Domnească
•Sitio Ramsar del Bajo Prut
•Reserva de Iagorlîc
•Valle del Dniéster en Ţipova
•Orheiul Vechi

Main conservation threats

•Conversion casi total de la estepa boscosa original a tierra de cultivo por la fertilidad excepcional de sus suelos chernozem
•Fragmentacion de los escasos remanentes de bosque de ribera del Dniester

Conservation

The scant forest cover, around twelve per cent, and the erosion of agricultural soils are the country's great environmental problems. Pădurea Domnească keeps a nucleus of European bison descended from animals brought from Poland.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Codrii in spring for woodland birds and the flowering of the understorey. The Lower Prut between April and September for pelicans and herons. The Dniester cliffs in summer for crag martins.

Moldavia presenta datos de biodiversidad especificos limitados en las fuentes consultadas, en parte por su reducido tamaño y su fuerte transformacion agricola historica.

Sources: Wikipedia - East European forest steppe | One Earth - East European Forest Steppe | CEOBS - Ukraine conflict environmental briefing Nature (referencia a la cuenca del Dniester compartida)

Temperate forest Grassland