Zapovednik Nenetsky, in the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug was established in 1997. The area
is 313.4 thousand ha, including the water area, of 181 h 9 thousand ha. It occupies the
northeastern extremity of the Malozemelskaya tundra, the water area and the islands of the
Barents Sea.
The Zapovednik encompasses the Zakharyinsky Shore of the Pecherskaya Bay, the low
reaches of the Pechora River delta along the southern shore of the Eulvanaskaya Bay, part
of the delta of the eastern Neruta River along the southern shore of the Bolvanskaya Bay,
the islands Gulyaevskie Koshki, Matveev Golets, Dolgii, Bolshoi and Maly Zelentsy, and
also the water area of the Korovinskaya, Srednya and Kuznetskaya Bay, part of the
Bolvanskya Bay, the ten-kilometer water area of the Zakharyinsk shore (Zakhrebetnaya Bay)
and the two-kilometer water area around the above-mentioned islands.
The topography is plain. Widely distributed are hillocky and small hillocky swamps with
numerous lakes, channels and streams. The Gulyaevskie Koshki Islands are sandy, partly
flooded during the tides. Some islands in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea have
cliffy shores.
The vegetation features Arctic and typical tundras with a predominance of moss and
lichen communities, herb-moss willow forests, floodplain meadows. Among the fiord
dominants are the Arctophila fulva and Aloperucur pratensis, Poa pratensis, Calamagrostis
langsdorfii, sedges and forbs). 210 vascular plants have been recorded, including rare
species as Rodiola rosea, Dryas octopetala, Pinguaicula alpina.
Through the Zapovednik territory waterfowl migrate on a mass scale (about 30 species).
The islands are breeding and moulting grounds, including rare and endangered species —
the Bewick's swan, white-fronted goose, lesser white-fronted goose, white-billed northern
diver. In the southern extremity of the Dolgy Island is the rookery of the Atlantic
walrus, which is listed in the Red Data Book.
Each year, the islands are visited by the polar bear.
Among rare cetaceans, are the narwhal, common bottle-nosed whale, and common finwhale
may appear. The Atlantic seal occurs occasionally.
