 It was established by order of Peter the Great to supply the Russian Navy with shipbuilding timber.Ferdinand Gabriel Fockel, a German forest expert, established the oldest stands in 1738–1750 with seedlings of European Larch ("Larix decidua") from the province of Arkhangelsk.Since then the area of the forest has expanded and currently the total area of larch is 55.9 ha (23.5 ha of the 'old stands' established before 1851 still remain).