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Nature reserves and protected areas
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3.1.6 Nature reserves and protected areas
The Dnipro Basin sustains a rich and diverse biological resource much of which is within nature reserves and protected areas. There are more than 35 nature reserves and protected areas in the Dnipro Basin occupying about 1.6% (8,100 km2) of the catchment area, with one quarter of these being of man-made origin. Due to severe budgetary constraints, an adequate protection regime has not been properly maintained in the majority of these areas.
Within the Russian Federation, nature reserves and protected areas occupy 1.3% of the Basin territory. The existing nature reserve capacity is not adequate to ensure full protection and conservation of rare plant and animal species, and their communities.
Since the 17th century, 238 species were lost in Belarus as a result of human activities and changes in abiotic factors. Large-scale land drainage schemes implemented in the Belorussian part of the Dnipro Basin over the past decades have resulted in the loss and/or shrinkage of a number of valuable and unique woodland communities of oak, ash, lime, black alder, and elm, as well as specific flora and fauna systems. Over the past 100 years, 25 higher vascular plants were reported to have become extinct and 40 animal species have lost their habitats.
Within Ukraine, the Dnipro River floodplain from the Pripyat River mouth to Kakhovka has lost most of its natural features as a result of the transformation of the main stem of the river into a series of reservoirs. Large areas of natural vegetation have been inundated following the filling of these reservoirs, which has resulted in significant changes in the Dnipro Basin ecosystem. Very little of the natural river channel remains. That which does is restricted to the Dnipro Delta, downstream of Kherson, and to short lengths of the Dnipro floodplain connecting the reservoirs (e.g. the Bila Tserkva reed marshes near Kremenchug; the Kanev nature reserve area; and the lower reach of the Dnipro downstream of the Kakhovka reservoir dam). Nature reserves and protected areas occupy 318,700 hectares within the Ukrainian part of the Dnipro Basin, accounting for 31% of the total area of nature reserves and protected territories within Ukraine. These include 2 biosphere reserves, 5 nature reserves, 3 national parks and 27 sites of outstanding historical/cultural/architectural value.
Generally, the state of biological resources sustained by forests, wetlands and steppes in the Dnipro Basin is rather poor and is subject to a number of anthropogenic impacts, particularly within the territory of Ukraine. The biological resources of the Dnipro Basin have been and continue to be depleted at an alarming rate, and urgent actions are needed to protect them in order to improve the environmental situation in the Basin.
