Study trip to the Tallinn Water Treatment Plant

On the 25th of January 2008 we visited Tallinn Water Treatment Plant. There were 26 Estonian students and 14 students and teachers from different European countries in our group. We took a guided tour in water cleaning station at Tallinn Ülemiste. Our guide told us about history of water supplying and about nowadays problems. We saw how to clean water in chemical and biological way.

More about Tallinn Water Treatment Plant http://www.tallinnavesi.ee/pages.php/020408

After that we had a short walking tour around Old Tallinn. But the weather was terrible there were a real snowstorm.

Study trip to the Endla Nature Reserve

At the end of May 40 students of Pärnu-Jaagupi High School visited the Endla Nature Reserve. The most important place of destination was the Pandivere Upland
with its numerous beautiful springs.

The Endla Mire System (with total area of about 25 000 ha) is one of the most important freshwater systems in Estonia representing a complex of different wetland types - mires, lakes, swamp forests, springs and rivers and supporting rich diversity of species.
The Endla Nature Reserve covering 10110 ha was established in 1985 to protect the best preserved central part of the mire system and karst springs of the southern slope of the Pandivere Upland.
In 1997 Endla was listed as internationally important wetland (Ramsar) site.

The western part of the nature reserve is remarkable for the number and size of its springs. The water originates from the Pandivere Upland, where creviced karsted limestone lay under thin surface. The springs (over thirty) are grouped together. The Võlingi and Oostriku springs are among those of the highest flow rate in Estonia. The deep funnels of picturesque Vilbaste springs can be found by the Võlingi Stream. The Sopa Spring with its 4.8-metre depth is the deepest. The temperature of the refreshing spring water is between two to eight degrees Celsius all year round.

You can read more on website http://www.endlakaitseala.ee

Walking tour to the moor of Tolkuse on 26th of January

The moor of Tolkuse is a part of Luitemaa Nature Reserve and situated in the southern part of the Pärnu County.

They make up 7200 hectares of bogs separated by a small canal. The bogs were previously lagunas which became drier century by century and finally turned into the bogs that we can see today.

The peat here has been estimated to be around 8000 years old . In the oldest part of the bog it is about 5 meters thick. In the central part of the bog you can see plants like cat’s tail, water hemlock, bog bean, carex, fern, birch, willow and even spruce. As the bog is situated in a hollow between the dunes, the bog border remains almost unnoticed. Thanks to the groundwater descending from the dunes a spring bog has formed itself with a lot of rare plants. Obviously the specialty of water regime is the reason why in the northern part of the bog the growth of peak has been up to 2 millimeters per year. Thanks to drainage works at different times some lakes in the centre of the bog have dried up, and the growth of trees at the open bog has decreased. In the bogs there live birds like river plover, mud sandpiper, whimper, great grey shrike, crane and black grouse. Wild bores, moose, wild goats live and breed on the bog islands.

There are the highest old sand dunes near the Tolkuse moor, with the 18 meters high lookout tower. The 1.6-kilometre-long planking path leads over the bog, lookout tower offers a beautiful view of surrounding landscape. We walked by the path, enjoyed glittering bog pools covered with ice, ate frozen cranberries and got up by the dunes. It was enjoyable sunny winter day we spent all together.

The first project meeting at Pärnu-Jaagupi