Description

Zuvintas, Lithuania, is located in the southern part of the Middle Lithuanian Lowlands. It represents approximately 60,000 ha and includes lakes, wetlands, mires, peatbogs, and pine tree stands. Its great variety of habitats and vegetation renders this location very rich in biodiversity. When designated, the biosphere reserve will be inscribed in national law as a specific category. The main human activities include agriculture, forestry and fishing, with the recent development of eco-farming and tourism. The area has a population of about 11,000, comprising a mixture of large and small land owners.

It is first Nature Reserve in Lithuania, established by an outstanding Lithuanian naturalist and ornithologist professor Tadas Ivanauskas (1882–1970) in 1937. Žuvintas Strict Nature Reserve was enrolled into the International list of Designated Wetlands and Shallow Waters of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) since 1993. Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve has the status of Important Bird Area (IBA) and Site of Community Importance (SAC) in compliance with the established criteria for European conservation territories of natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora since 2004. In 2011 it has become a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

A part of the 2 euro commemorative coins dedicated to the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve were minted with an error in the edge lettering. Instead of the Lithuanian inscription LAISVĖ ★ VIENYBĖ ★ GEROVĖ, the Latvian inscription DIEVS ★ SVĒTĪ ★ LATVIJU is used on the edge. The error only occurs on coins that are in the BU coincard.