What to do and see in Parnu County, Parnu County: The Best Nature & Wildlife Areas

Coastal meadows and reed thickets line the sandy Parnu Beach almost to the extent of the entire city. The Parnu Coastal Meadow Protection area was created in 1958 to protect endangered and rare plant species and communities, coastal meadows, creeks and moving dunes as valuable habitats.The coastal meadows in Vana-Parnu and Raekula districts are the most interesting. The dryer Vana-Parnu Meadow has been maintained and cut for decades. A bird-watching tower and a small hiking trail were built here in 2008.Come and enjoy pure nature in the midst of the city!

At Kabli Nature Centre, you can find useful information about natural values of the region and the holiday options offered by the State Forest management Centre (RMK) all over Estonia. You can watch exhibitions and films about nature, order tours, go camping and swim. Kabli Study Trail, which is 1.8 km long, starts in front of the centre and offers you the chance to learn about coastal plan communities, different types of dunes, various nesting boxes and numerous bird species. You can try spotting the birds yourself from the two tours on the trail.

You can come and admire our tropical butterflies and moths 6 days a week. We have created a natural environment for them to live in where the temperature is always 25-35 degrees and moisture is about 80%. Our butterflies are from Panama, Ecuador and Philippines. Moths are mostly from Europe, America and Asia. We order our butterflies from different breeders around Europe, we do not capture the but

A 2.5 kilometre avenue lines the road from Audru small town to Valgeranna beach. The first polder in Estonia lies south from the alley - the Audru polder, which was set up in 1938 to avoid flooding the coastland of Parnu Bay. The wet and extensive polder, about 2,000 ha, has become a stopover for many migratory birds that pass through in spring and autumn. The polder is now an internationally important bird area.

Nederma Woodland is one of the largest of its kind in Estonia and Europe. The area of the woodland has grown to 100 hectares as the result of the restoration work that started in 1998.When visiting Nederma Woodland, you can take a walk on the study trail, enjoy the beauty of nature and the variety of species and see many protected plants.Useful information!Woodlands appear as a result of the activities of people. They are usually rich in species and take hundreds of years to emerge. People used them for making hay and as pastures and they are also good sources of herbs, berries and mushrooms. Intensive agricultural activities in the 20th century are the main reason why woodlands that were one widely spread in Northern Europe have perished.

At Mihkli, you will find an imposing oak forest that is almost 250 years old and spread over 90 hectares. It is considered once of the most beautiful natural oak forests where nearly a half of the trees are straight-stemmed oaks. Useful information!There are two stories about the history of Mihkli Oak Forest. The first of them says that the squire living next to Mihkli rectory became jealous of his neighbour’s park and decided to get one up on the rectory by planning the oak forest. There is more truth to the story that the oak forest appeared due to the small bird known as the Eurasian jay, who buries acorns for the winter and the ones left uneaten grow into new oak trees.