Kushiro National Park
Kushiro Shitsugen National Park (釧路湿原国立公園, Kushiro Shitsugen Kokuritsu Kōen?) is a national park located in the east of the island of Hokkaidō, Japan. It was designated as a national park on 31 July 1987, and is the 28th and most recent of Japan’s national parks. The park is known for its wetlands ecosystems.
Kushiro Shitsugen covers an area of 268.61 km² and contains the largest tracts of reedbeds in Japan. During the Ramsar Convention of 1980, in which Japan participated, the park was first registered as a peatland with raised bogs. In 1967, the wetlands themselves had been designated as a national natural monument. For that reason, access is strictly limited and the landscape, most typical of Hokkaidō, has been preserved.
Reeds, sedges, peat moss wetlands, black alder thickets, rivers which bend freely back and forth, groups of lakes and marshes, and other wet ecosystems comprise a varied environment. The park is considered to be a valuable haven for wild species such as the Red-crowned Crane, huchen (Hucho perryi), Siberian salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) and dragonfly (Leucorrhinia intermedia ijimai), among others.
Check out its official site: Kushiro National Park
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