Vilsandi National Park is a national park in Saare County, Estonia. It includes part of the island of Vilsandi, a number of smaller islands.
The park grew from a bird reserve founded in 1910. It is a highly sensitive ecosystem due to the use of the area as a stop-over by many migratory birds, like barnacle geese and Steller’s eider, and as a breeding and nesting ground for over 247 species of birds, of which the most common is the eider duck.
One-third of all protected plant species in Estonia can also be found in the national park.
With in the National Park Hunting is absolutely prohibited.
Vilsandi National Park is made up of 150 islands.
In 2007, the European Commission launched the European Destinations of Excellence (EDEN) competition. Vilsandi National Park was the nominee in 2009 in category “EDEN. Estonia’s hidden treasures. Tourism and protected areas”.
Vilsandi is the oldest nature protection area in the Baltics, founded as a bird reserve in 1910, which was reorganised as the Vilsandi National Park in 1993.
The park covers an area of 23 880 ha, of which more than half is the coastal sea.