100 stories from the hiking route

2014 – The opening of the new Kloostri Bridge

Information

Topic

People and nature

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 58.7449454

Longitude: 23.8418604

L-EST 97

x: 6511716.9
y: 490844.3

Location

Penijõe-Aegviidu Hiking route

During the spring freshet, the Kasari and its tributaries start overflowing and almost the entire Kasari flood-meadow gets flooded. The Kasari is one of the larger preserved flood-meadows in Europe. The flooded meadow is a habitat for thousands of swans, geese, and mallards. The flood is a very important period for a flood-meadow. The floodwater brings sediments facilitating herbal growth. The longer and more extensive the flood, the better the conditions for the birds nesting in the flood-meadow.
The Kasari flood-meadow has been strongly impacted by dredging and draining the river in 1926—1938 to improve the local farmlands and hayfields, as a result of which the floodwater stays in the meadow for a shorter time and the floods are not as extensive.
In 2014, the new Kloostri Bridge was opened on the Kasari River. The bridge has a water level regulator, which means that, if necessary, the floodwater can be held in the Kasari River for longer than usual. It allows extending the flooding period and also provides access for the maintenance of the flood-meadow. Of the 4,000-hectare Kasari flood-meadow, 3,000 hectares are regularly being mowed.
In 2011 the film “Purge” based on the book by Sofi Oksanen was filmed near Kloostri bridge.

Sources:
Hansen, V. 2007. Kasari River and a Tatar hat. Nature-lover. 2