Birds of Setun Valley zakaznik

The valley’s history joins old estates with the gradual protection of its natural landscape. Spasskoye-na-Setuni estate is known from the 17th century and belonged to the boyar Artamon Matveev, who commissioned the Church of the Saviour Not Made by Hands. The five-domed church was built in 1673–1676; by 2018, the estate’s old park and ponds were its only surviving remains. In Troekurovo, the estate belonged to the boyar Troekurov family in the 17th and 18th centuries. The village of Goleni-shchevo is known from the 14th century, and its Trinity Church was built in 1644–1646. The first nature-protection designation covered a small part of the valley in Matveyevsky Forest: on 17 October 1991, an 18.3-hectare area was declared a natural monument. A programme to create a natural park was developed in the mid-1990s and required cleaning and ecological rehabilitation of the river channel. The regional sanctuary was established on 21 July 1998.

Green sandpipers inhabit wooded parts of the valley. Black-headed gulls have nesting colonies here, and skylark nesting sites have been recorded. Eurasian teal and garganey breed in the valley; peregrines use it as a feeding area, while both feeding areas and nesting sites are recorded for common kestrels. Birds recorded nearby include great tit, hooded crow, fieldfare, mallard and rock pigeon.