Labanoras Forest ( lt, Labanoro giria) also the ''Labanoras–Pabradė Forest'' ( lt, Labanoro–Pabradės giria), is the second-largest forest in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. It as a primeval forest in Aukštaitija region in northeastern Lithuania with the total area of of which is covered by trees. A large part of the forest is protected by the

Labanoras Regional Park Labanoras Regional Park, established in 1992, is located 80 kilometers northeast of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius. Covering 553.18 km², it is the largest regional park in the country.

and the Aukštaitija National Park. The Labanoras Forest mainly consists of pine trees. There are some birch,

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

, black alder groves. Soils are sandy, light, densely covered by

cup lichen A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

. The forest is rich in edible mushrooms, billberries, cranberries, and

cowberries ''Vaccinium vitis-idaea'', the lingonberry, partridgeberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae, that bears edible fruit. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northe ...

. Collection of these mushrooms and berries are an important part of the local economy. The fauna includes many endangered species, such as the

gray wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly ...

wood grouse The western capercaillie (''Tetrao urogallus''), also known as the Eurasian capercaillie, wood grouse, heather cock, cock-of-the-woods, or simply capercaillie , is a heavy member of the grouse family and the largest of all extant grouse species. ...

, black grouse, hoopoe, Eurasian eagle-owl, osprey, mountain hare, stoat, ''

Coronella austriaca The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non- venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and ...

'',

great capricorn beetle ''Cerambyx cerdo'', commonly known as the great capricorn beetle or cerambyx longicorn, is a species of beetle in family Cerambycidae. It occurs in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia), Europe (Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Cze ...

, and '' Lucanus cervus''.

References

{{Reflist Forests of Lithuania Utena County Vilnius County