The first ideas for establishing a park to protect the landscape of the unique Punia forest and their natural ecosystems date from the prewar times. But only in 1960 a botanical and zoological Punia forest managed reserve was established. For more than 20 years government officials discussed the project of a national nature park. Later there were more discussions in various levels, in the mass media, and finally, in 1989 a final decision was reached to establish the Nemunas National Park. But the park wasn't established at that time. On the 24th of September, in 1992, together with the other 28 brother parks, the Nemunas Loops Regional Park was born.

What was so interesting and important to preserve in this part of Lithuania, if the idea to protect it had been raised so long ago? Firstly, there are the 60 kilometres of loops of the Nemunas river within a straight distance from Punia to Birstonas of only 10 kilometres. Who could describe them better than our beloved poet Justinas Marcinkevicius who comes from Prienai district?

"The blessed places, the surroundings of extreme beauty! It seems that the old Nemunas, having worked hard creating the loops, remained enchanted by their beauty. The old Nemunas began tumbling from side to side and his head was swimming, he couldn't understand the direction in which he was flowing, where he was sending his waters. Thanks to his giddiness, he created the most unique monument of nature - 60 kilometres of the Nemunas' great loops. No other European river had worked so creatively.

The great loops of the Nemunas were hardly understandable for river transport workers of ancient times. The cartographers couldn't draw them correctly in a comparatively exact map of "Magni Ducatus Lithuania" in 1613. The loops at Punia and Birstonas appear for the first time in 1777 in Siponys estate land plans. Only in 1852 Abichtas, a Vilnius University professor, depicted the loops correctly. The reasons that forced the Nemunas to loop into such curves are still debated.

The hydrographic reserve of the Great Loops of Nemunas embraces the river-bed in the territory of the regional park. The goal is to preserve the unique hydrographic structure spreading through the whole glacial area of the Great Loops of Nemunas by Punia, Balbieriskis, Prienai and Birstonas. You can sometimes find similar hydrographic areas, but only in rivers having a different natural area and quite a different landscape.

Also important and valuable for science is the valley of the Nemunas with its slopes, gullies, and grottos. Especially important are the erosional protrudes of Nibriai, Kalviai, and Birstonas whose analogues could not be found in the other Nemunas or Neris valleys. Impressive and interesting are the terraced cavities of Daukantai and Posventis. One of the most picturesque landscapes in Lithuania is the Nemunas' valley beside the Balbieriskis geological rock exposure.

The axis of the hydrographic net and of the regional park, too, is, of course, Nemunas. About 40 rivulets, babbling merrily, eroding big caverns and gullies, flow into Nemunas. There are some unchanged, unimproved tributaries of Nemunas. They are Vizdija, Vade and others. They are a special kind of hydrographic and hydrological monuments. Besides the Great Loops there are two other hydrological reserves. They are Osvencia (preserving the Osvencia rivulet with the original double hydrographic structure and visible erosional undercut) and Vizdija (preserving the Vizdija rivulet and its valley for their naturalism).

The largest tributaries of the Nemunas are Perseke and Verkne. The rest are clean, hardworking rivulets, sometimes more audible than visible because they wind through the groves and forests bearing very nice names, such as Dubenele, Juodija, Mikasa, Uosa, Sanaunelis, Viesurkis...

The landscape of the Great Loops of Nemunas, its natural and cultural values form a kind of complex grouping, giving this place a special value. That is why, out of 17 reserves, 6 of them are landscape reserves. Three of them (Prienai, Verkne and Kalviai pine forests) are established to preserve nature values: fragments of the old forests, natural rivulets, rock exposures, erosional circuses, protrudes. The other three - mostly for their cultural and historic importance. They are: Punia, with one of the largest mounds in Lithuania, the impressive Nemunas and the lower reaches of the Punele's slopes, the Naravai village, with its spatial character and land-ownership reflecting its three historical ages, and Siponys village, with its expressive agrarian landscape of the valley and traditional rural architecture.

The region of the Great Loops of Nemunas is the most picturesque in Lithuania. The river winding between the slopes overgrown with trees, the farmhouse buried in verdure... Here, through its winding 60 kilometres, Nemunas flows in all the directions of the compass. The average depth of the valley is about 40 metres, but in some places the slopes reach 70-80 metres above water level. It is quite clear that the panorama from such heights down the twisting river and verdant forests in the blue distance make a great impression. From one side of Birstonas the Nemunas can be seen flowing to the West, from the other side - to the East.

The forests cover over half of the territory. There are several massive forests in this area: Siponys, Zverincius, and Vezionys. The largest (2760 hectares) of these is Punia forest. At present it is a small strip of the grand old forest that in ancient times stretched to the borders of Prussia. From all sides, except the southern part, the forest is surrounded by Nemunas. There is only one roadway by Panemuninkai. Many varieties of trees grow in Punia forest. The dominant pine and spruce stands are famous for their height. Seeking to preserve the former features of Lithuanian woods and maintain the Punia forest's natural landscape with valuable flora and fauna complexes, part of the forest (470 hectares) has been set aside as an exclusive reserve.

Prienai forest, although not so famous, is, nevertheless, interesting and valuable. Here, also, grow stands of the old forest, rare plants, and very tall trees. One of the greatest protected habitats of ramsons (Allium ursinum) in Lithuania is in Punia forest. It is the Drubengis botanical reserve.

The green moss pine forests with the broad-leaved tree strands or spruce admixtures predominate in the territory of the park.

The Nemunas has formed soils different in their mechanical structures and the wealth of nutrients. This opened up the possibility of developing its specific vegetation cover.

A detailed research of the flora was begun more than thirty years ago. An especially detailed research of the vegetation of the Punia forest was done in 1970. A special stage in the investigation of the flora of the park was an expedition from the Institute of Botany in 1996. New, rare species of plants were recorded during this investigation.

The Great Loops expedition and other researchers have counted 731 species of plants. There are 33 species listed in the Red Data Book. Dry open slopes, grown over with plain and herbal grasses, are valuable habitats in the regional park. Such slopes shouldn't be allowed to be overgrown with forest.

The territory of the regional park is also important for its its cultural heritage. Besides the above mentioned natural landscape objects, there are many cultural objects. The longest list consists of archeological monuments. There are 31 objects, 20 of them are mounds located by the riversides of the Nemunas and Verkne. The village of Pelekonys and its northern surroundings are proclaimed as an archeological reserve. There are even four mounds in it. To tell the truth one of them is almost being washed by the Nemunas but the old settlement beside it must be preserved. The second is a little further from the river and the third the fourth are hidden in the forest. Especially beautiful is the fourth with its steep slopes more than 20 metres in height.

There is no doubt, that the castle hill of Vytautas and Punia mound, with their historical past, legends and size are unsurpassable and, therefore, are often visited by tourists. The Paverkniai mound looming in the deep valley of the river Verkne is a real pearl for sightseeing and an ideal place for the Rasa (Dew) festival. There is a river beside it, powerful oaks around and on it, and, not far from an old farmhouse, rye wave in the wind.

Of course mounds are not only the decorations of the landscape, but a very important objective source of research of the old culture.

Cemeteries are ascribed to historical monuments, one can read in them a long period of the history of our nation. Wooden crosses, typical to the southwestern part of Lithuania (Dzukija), still survive in Nemajunai cemetery .

One of the other historical objects, known not only in our region and numerously visited by tourists, is the birth-place of the linguist, Professor Jonas Kazlauskas, commemorated by eight roofed poles carved by local woodcarvers. Then there is Nemajunai urban reserve (Valakas - land measuring unit = about 20 hectares - urban structure), a nice wooden church and writer St. Moravskis' chapel.

Wandering along cozy, quiet and clean Birstonas streets one can enjoy interesting architectural buildings (the church, old mud-cure houses, history museum), plentiful works of art in the squares and public gardens.

Birstonas urban reserve embraces the old past of the health resort. The goal is to preserve and exhibit the typically planned space of a small health-resort, with the buildings of the old villas and the famous Vytautas castle hill and park.

The area of the regional park is about 24000 hectares. It is in the central part of Prienai district, embracing the whole territory of the Birstonas health-resort. Only a small area of the regional park is in the northern part of Alytus district. The territory of the park can be easily reached by various means of transport on comparatively good roads and highways. The distances among the major towns are short.

The scenery of the park has wide recreation possibilities. Silence, quietness, nice nature become more and more valuable in the neighborhood of the major towns. The Nemunas is a comfortable waterway and its slopes are good for skiing. The recreation possibilities are enriched by wonderful mineral waters and Birstonas, with its sanatorium treatment and curative surroundings. But this park should not be only for preservation, restoration and doing research but also should develop educational tourism.