The park is located in the Arkhangelsk region, on the Onega Peninsula, surrounded by the Onega and The Dvina bays of the White Sea, established to preserve the pristine old-age massifs of the northern taiga and preserve the traditional lifestyle of the White Sea .
Lack of roads (only air traffic all year round and water access in the summer during the navigation), the lack of centralized power supply, areas of inaccessible marshes have preserved a «primitive» state of wildlife on the Onega Peninsula.
In the forests of the park it is easy to see a wild beast, and on the coast to see the seals or backs of toothed whales. In the spring thousands of geese, ducks, waders follow to nesting sites through the Onega Peninsula, and in the fall — back to the places of wintering. The rivers and lakes in the park are ideal spawning for numerous freshwater and salmon fish. In some streams in the park, a rare freshwater clam was discovered — a European pearl mussel, once the pride of the Russian North.
The people of the villages adjacent to the park on the White Sea coast name themselves the Pomors. They have originated the traditions of nondestructive nature resources management that was reflected in the lifestyle and culture. Expressive examples of Pomor log cabins and chapels, the oldest tent church on the White Sea coast in the village of Purnema, Orlov and Chesmensky lighthouses, have been preserved on the Onega Peninsula.
photo: A. Aristarkhov, L. Beauvais, A. Volkov, O. Prodan, A. Chernetsky, S. Yakovlev