Zapovednik (Russian: заповедник, plural заповедники, from the Russian заповедный, "sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed, committed ") is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas that are strictly protected, and maybe restricted to the public.
The closest English term is "scientific nature reserve" or literally nature sanctuary (compare to animal sanctuary), however zapovediks are not necessarily connected with nature only as there could be historical-cultural, historical-archeological, and other types of zapovedniks of cultural or natural heritage.
The term was used in the former Soviet Union and still is in the Russian Federation as well as in some of the other 14 former Soviet republics. Human use is generally limited to scientific research or educational purposes. However, many reserves have areas with different degrees of protection, and sometimes other activities (such as grazing) are permitted to a certain extent. Zapovednik refers to the reserve, staff and infrastructure.
Other types of protected areas include national nature parks, zakazniks (refers to "state game reserve" because a limited authorized hunting is also allowed there ), nature monuments (often individual trees, geological exposures, or other small areas) etc. Some zapovedniks are recognized as biosphere reserves (biosphere sanctuaries).
In Russia there are 101 zapovedniks covering about 330,000 square kilometers (130,000 sq mi), or about 1.4% of the country's total area. They include everything from isolated patches of steppe to large tracts of Siberia and the Arctic, and range in size from Galich'ya Gora at 2.31 km² (570 acres) to Great Arctic State Nature Reserve at 41,692 square kilometers (16,097 sq mi). The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources oversees 99 of the zapovedniks. Il'menskiy is, however, administered by the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Galich'ya Gora by Voronezh University.
Read more about Zapovednik: Theory of zapovednost', History, Environments Protected, Management and Uses, International Significance of The Zapovednik System, List of Zapovedniks in Russia