Reserve "Yaroslavl" was organized on August 12, 1958, He is a Zoological reserve profile at the Federal level. It is located on the Bank of the Kostroma reservoir, in the territory of Nekrasov and Danilov areas in lower reaches of rivers Cast, SOT, Wapsa. An area of 14,300 hectares. Is located in areas of Bottomland forest Yaroslavl forestry and Sereda forestry Danilov timber, various farms and other land users. Along the Northern border of the refuge are 20 rural settlements.

Reserve "Yaroslavl" is 180 km from the national Park Pleshcheyevo lake. which protects the natural reserve and carries out activities aimed at maintaining the natural state of natural objects and complexes and objects of the sanctuary and the preservation of their biological diversity.

Reserve "Yaroslavl" was created in order to protect the unique and typical fauna, the hunting fauna reserve, which contributes to the dispersal of wild animals. In the reserve are protected by more than 40 species of mammals including beaver and muskrat) and 200 species of birds (including white-tailed eagle).

The reserve lies on a lowland plain, which formed the ancient Volga floodplain and the lower reaches of the rivers flowing into the Volga complicated by floodplains. The height of the surface is in the side part of the lowlands from 110 m in the lowest Central part up to 87 m. the landscape is Flat in places disturbed by old river beds, natural levees, embankments, basins floodplain lakes. In the reserve is dominated by soils with a combination of peat-gley and sod-gley, alluvial gley granular soils near river beds in lacustrine loam and sandy loam-loamy river alluvium.

In the sanctuary are downstream casti, SOTI, Wapsi that flow into Kostroma spills. On average, the depth of the channels is 3-5 m (Cast and Vope) and 8 m (SOT), the dominant channel process is free of meandering; the average depth of spills within the reserve 3 m, only on the sites of former riverbeds flooded rivers and lakes of 8-10 m. the Hydrological regime of spills is dependent on admission of water at the Gorky hydroelectric power station, and subjected to mean annual and seasonal variations with an amplitude of 1-2 m.

The climate in the reserve is temperate continental, the average annual temperature is +2, 9º, the average temperature in January is -11, 4º, the average temperature in July is +15, 2º, the growing season lasts 150 days, the average annual rainfall is 593 mm, the duration of the snow period of 150-160 days, the prevailing winds are South-West and West.

The area of forest reserve is 8540 ha, he presents in middle-aged birch, alder, aspen, spruce and mixed stands. The forest Fund consists of small-leaved forests with admixture of spruce (old and middle-aged forests with a predominance of aspen, birch, alder) – 10, 5% of the area; secondary deciduous dry forests (old and middle-aged birch forests with an admixture of willow, Linden, aspen) – 16, 4%; small-leaved wet forest (middle-aged and old olshaniki, aspen-birch-alder forests growing on peat soils) – 7, 1%; clearcuts and young stands (aspen / birch / alder) – 6, 9%; shrub (lowland pastures and hayfields, zakustarennye undergrowth, overgrown with clumps of alder and willow bushes, flooded Gorky reservoir undergrowth) – 18, 8%; thickets of marsh-aquatic vegetation – swamp-water tracts of shallow water overgrown with macrophytes -2, 8%.

Biological diversity of fauna and flora of the reserve is represented by more than 200 species of birds and over 40 species of mammals. Rare species – white-tailed eagle and a muskrat.