1. Kursiu Nerija National
Park

2. Kuršių nerija, the
Curonian Spit, is a narrow
strip of sand stretching
97 kilometres along the
Baltic Sea in western
Lithuania.

3. The legend
According to the legend, the spit
was formed a long time ago by
Neringa, a giant girl who poured the
sandy peninsula into the Baltic Sea
to protect the peaceful bay from
the stormy sea and create an
embankment for fishermen to live.
Thus, today the eastern shores of
the Curonian Spit are washed by the
Curonian Lagoon, while the Baltic
Sea washes the western ones.

4. Facts about park
One part of the 50 kilometres long Curonian Spit
belongs to the Republic of Lithuania. The other
one to the Russian Federation. With its still
drifting sand dunes, the sea side forests
cherishing the hundred-years-old pine trees,
dunes covered by a mountain pines’ carpet
planted by hand, white sand beaches and the old
fishermen villages, the Curonian spit is truly
unique! In order to preserve the valuable
landscape complex, Kuršių nerija National Park
was established in 1991.

5. Cultural and natural heritage of
international significance
 In 2000, the Curonian Spit
cultural landscape was inscribed
on the UNESCO World Heritage
List.
 The Curonian Spit is part of
“Natura 2000”, a network of
protected territories in Europe,
connecting its most valuable
natural habitats. It is also
belongs to HELCOM, which
seeks to protect the marine
environment of the Baltic Sea
through intergovernmental
cooperation.

6. Human habitation on this elongated sand dune
peninsula dates back to prehistoric times.
Throughout this period it has been threatened by
the natural forces of wind and waves. Its survival
to the present days has been made possible only
as a result of ceaseless human efforts to combat
the erosion of the Spit, dramatically illustrated by
continuing stabilization and reforestation
projects.

7. Natural values
The dunes are an exclusive
element of the Curonian Spit
landscape. Here you can
explore all stages of dune
formation. You will find
embryonic shifting dunes,
humid dune slacks,
decalcified fixed dunes,
wooded dunes, white and
grey dunes, which are
famous for their exceptional
beauty.

8. Natural values
Eleven types of protected habitats of
European importance occur in the
Curonian Spit. It is the home to rare
species of insects, birds, and plants
specific and typical for the place. Some of
them are endangered and included in the
Red Book of Lithuania. There are 37
species of mammals living in Curonian
Spit. Here you can meet fox and hare,
boar and beaver, roe deer, elk, and many
other mammal species.

9. Natural values
Every year millions of birds fly through the
area as the migration route from the Baltic
Sea to the White Sea through the Curonian
Spit. The coastlines along the Curonian Spit
Lagoon and Baltic Sea are important for
migratory and wintering water birds. In
addition, there are large concentrations of
migrating passerines and birds of prey, and
the Curonian Spit is famous for the largest
breeding colony of Great Cormorants in
Lithuania. This is a true paradise for the bird
watchers!

10. Natural values
About 50 fish species live in the
Curonian Lagoon including the most
common such as: roach, perch,
redeye, white bream and common
bream.
Bream is very fearful during
spawning. If frightened, it might never
return to its native area. This is why it
was prohibited to sail during spawning
or ring a church bell near bream
territory.

11. Grass vegetation
• 2922 ha in the park have no forest
cover. These are mostly sand areas,
which are 25% of the total park area.
• The distinction of flora in the
Curonian Spit is defined by strong
winds, drifting sand, soils that heat up
quickly but they are dry and infertile,
salty water, and sudden and frequent
weather changes. All these factors
together make the coastal plains
similar to the steppe conditions in the
southeastern part of Europe.

12. Flora
1. Single specimens of the Baltic rocket
2. Primary dunes with sea sandwort
3. Marram - lyme grass - goat's beard - toadflax covered
dunes
4. Sheep's bit - everlasting sand plain
5. Bog willow - crowberry zone
6. Lichen pine forest
7. Thickets of the dwarf mountain pine (with intersections
of the Baltic rocket, marram - lyme grass - goat's beard toadflax and sheep's bit - everlasting)
8. Birch forest

13. Nagliai nature reserve area - 1669.01 hectares, it
extends 9 kilometers.
The main protected objects: Gray (Dead) Dunes, the beach,
lagoon, sand and kupstynė complexes, rare plants included in the
Red Book, 4 sand bound villages, 2 old graveyards , ancient dunes
and aesthetically valuable landscapes. Because of recurrent strong
winds in white dunes of Nagliai nature reserve form an impressive
ravines and pitting, as a result, some areas of the sand fragments
of old soils uncover. There is prohibited any activity including
recreation in the reserve. Here, the nature is preserved for
scientific purposes and for monitoring.

14. Reserves
Grobstas nature reserve area - 277.33
hectares, it is the Parnidis landscape and
the state border of the Russian
Federation.
The reserve stands out for its unique
landscape and its distinctive forms of
relief. The main protected objects: the
great shifting sand dunes, coastal sand
plains complex, sand bounded Nida
village. Grobstas nature reserve "pearl" Gliders dune - once has been the highest
dune in the Curonian Spit (70m.), but
exposed to strong autumn winds
decreased to 50m.

15. Reserves
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•
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•
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Kursiu Nerija National Park
landscape encountered five
reserves:
Parnidis landscape reserve
Karvaiciai landscape reserve
Heron Hill landscape reserve
Witches mountain landscape
reserve
Alksnynės landscape reserve

16. Human impact to the landscape
Due to extensive forest clear cuttings, especially after
the Seven-Year War (1756-1763), wind erosion
appeared. Wind reshaped old parabolic dunes,
forming a new relief. The Great Dune Ridge started
to grow. It buried 14 villages under the thick layer of
sand: Naumiestis, Priedinis, Senieji and Naujieji
Nagliai, Karvaiciai, Senieji Kuncai, Naujoji Pilkopa,
Senoji Nida and others. The sand threatened
humans, so they started looking for ways to tame it.
At the beginning they were building wooden
barriers, which helped very little.

17. Human impact to the landscape
The radical turn happened in 1768, when a professor
of Wittenberg University J.O.Titius offered to plant
dunes with saplings of the mountain pine, which
were brought from Denmark. The planting was
started in the middle of the 19th century. The Great
Dune Ridge was strengthened and the foredune
ridge was formed along the spit. The foredune ridge
prevented sand drifting from the seacoast.
This rather interesting object has been erected over
several centuries. People started to work on it in
1805 and they still continue. Rows of pickets should
be nailed along the coast at first. The moving sand
stops around them and forms the ridge.

18. Parnidis dune
Parnidis dune is a favorite place
for tourists to visit. The Dune is
semi-planted, semi-Shifting.
There is the stationary solar clock
- calendar on the south-western
slope of Parnidis dunes. From
Parnidis dunes you can enjoy the
diversity of Spit landscape.

19. Herons and cormorants
colonies
There is Herons Hill in old grove,
named after the nearby grey
herons and cormorants colonies.
This is one of the largest bird
colonies in Europe. According to
data of the year 2000, there were
bred couples of 582 grey herons
and 1361 cormorants.

20. Hill of Witches
Midsummer has been celebrated on
the old Hill of Witches. Nowadays,
walking the mountain trails you can see
the unique exposure to the open air. 71
sculptures are carved from oak in 1979 1981 summers when folk - wood carvers
came together to Juodkrantė from all
Lithuania (mostly Lowland). The theme
of old mountain sculptures is a world of
witches, devils, fairy tales and heroes of
Lithuanian legends.

21. Vecekrugas Hill
Man-made pine carpet with all its beauty
can be seen from the old taverns Hill
(Curonian Vecekrugas) at Karvaiciai landscape
reserve. It is said that there has been a tavern
at the foot of the mountain. The height of
Vecekrugas is about 67.2 m.

22. Culture and traditions
The rich cultural heritage of the
Curonian Spit includes fishing
settlements that are considered
valuable both from an ethnocultural, historical and aesthetic
point of view. There are
architectural works of unique scale
and archeological sites, mostly
villages buried under the sand.

23. Culture and traditions
The settlements of the Curonian spit until the
19th century were typical fishing villages –
monuments of special significance to the kursiai
community way of living and ethnographic
traditions which are not maintained anymore.
The earliest fishing settlements were buried in
the sand when the forest cover was removed.
Those that have survived since the beginning of
the 19th century are all to be found along the
coast of the Curonian Lagoon. There is a specific
structure of fishermen homesteads with
traditional wooden dwellings, coloured dark
brown and blue and decorated with wooden
carvings on the gables.

24. Culture and traditions
One of very significance things are the
traditional grave markers known as
krikstai. These are timber planks decorated
with flowers, hearts and even animal
motifs such as birds’ silhouettes.