Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve located on the depression of Lake Võrtsjärv is an area of wide swamps, primeval forests, winding rivers and broad flooded meadows.

The waters of Lake Suur-Võrtsjärv were here after the Ice Age, 7,500 until 10,000 years ago. As the water surface lowered, the relict lakes decreased over time. Today, these have been formed into bog massifs: Põltsamaa, Laeva, Umbusi, Soosaare, Meleski and Sangla bogs.

• In 1931, Gustav Vilberg made a proposal in the journal Eesti Mets (Estonian Forest) to create a protected area with a big surface area in the Alam-Pedja region.
• Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve was established in 1994.
• Upon floods, the common flooded area downstream of the Emajõgi River and the Pedja and Põltsamaa Rivers may be more than 9,000 ha, leaving one third of the nature reserve under water.
• Swamps and swamp forests make up 72% of Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve.
• Alam-Pedja flooded meadow is the second largest after Kasari delta flooded meado