The 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the National Geological Reserve of National Importance “The Dnipro Rapids”

The 50th Anniversary of the Creation of the National Geological Reserve of National Importance “The Dnipro Rapids”

Today, October 28, marks the 50th anniversary of creating the general geological reserve of national importance, “The Dnipro Rapids”.

The importance of this territory of the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine can hardly be overestimated. According to the materials for the creation of the reserve on the territory of 1,383 hectares, the territory of Khortytsia Island includes (except for the gardens and arable land of the Zaporizhzhia Research Center for the Mechanization of Animal Husbandry Institute, Island of Baida, Stig I and Stig II rocks, stone pillars and a rapids part of the Dnipro River in the lower reaches of the Dnipro HPP.

It is a picturesque corner of nature where all the characteristic landscapes of the south of our country are united in a small area.

The extraordinary diversity of landscapes supports biological diversity. More than 1,200 species of plants grow on the reserve territory, and more than 2,500 species of animals live here (and these are only those that have been inventoried, and the research is ongoing…).

This area has attracted people’s attention in the distant past and continues to amaze even today.

One of the tasks of the Khortytsia National Reserve is to preserve this unique natural complex. The team conducts systematic studies of the territory of the reserve, one of the results of which is its inclusion in the object of the Emerald Network of Ukraine.

The research continues even now despite all the challenges, including a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary, we held a scientific and practical seminar, the purpose of which was to consolidate a wide range of scientists on the problems that arose before the reserve and other territories of the natural reserve of Ukraine and to find ways to overcome them.