Voronezh, Caucasian and Danube biosphere reserves are the largest conservation areas located in the post-Soviet space. And what is a biosphere reserve? First of all, it is a protected area where a unique natural ecological system is located. In addition, on it and the land adjacent to it, monitoring and study of natural environments are constantly carried out .
The history of the Voronezh reserve
The state reserve owes its creation primarily to beavers. Because before the start of the study, there was a menagerie in the territory of this national park, into which deer and beavers were first brought. The latter formed a fairly large colony.
The history of the reserve dates back to 1919. Then, an expedition was sent here to study the nature of the
Voronezh province . It took a group of scientists four long years to fully explore the territory on which the Voronezh Biosphere Reserve is now located. After that, the head of the expedition asked to organize a permanent guard of beavers in order to prevent their destruction.
Already in 1923, a protected area was created, which passed along the Usmani river, on which then less than a hundred beavers lived. Thanks to human care, the number of beavers increased significantly, and they ceased to be on the verge of extinction. In 1927, the protected area officially became a nature reserve. And in 1985, he became a biosphere.
Main goals
The Voronezh Biosphere Reserve is located in the Voronezh and Lipetsk regions. Its area is more than 30 thousand hectares. The symbols of the reserve are the figures of a beaver and a deer framed by branches.
Nowadays, this place is a unique natural area, which presents a variety of flora and fauna.
The main tasks of workers are the conservation of island forests, the wealth of animal species, and the study of the ecological situation. In addition, the Voronezh State Biosphere Reserve is a place where researchers are engaged in active environmental education of the population.
Vegetable world
On the territory of the modern reserve is a huge number of rare plants. Here is an amazing combination of oak, pine, birch and aspen trees.
The Voronezh Biosphere Reserve is a unique place where a rare taiga plant - blueberries - is still preserved. In addition, a large number of water bodies are located on its territory. Therefore, here you can find many rare plants that grow in swamps and rivers. Among them one can distinguish floodplain alders, which begin to bloom in spring, as well as bright flowers of iris and marsh cherubnitsa.
In hot weather, lilies, water lilies and water-flowers appear on lakes and forest rivers. In addition, in this area, especially along the Ivnitsa River, a huge amount of common ostrich grows. And on the shore of Lake Chistoe, you can see the rarest species of plants - common false spice.
Animal world
The creation of the reserve is associated with the appearance of beavers, so the protection and augmentation of these and other species of animals is the main focus of the work. The Voronezh Biosphere Reserve inhabits a large number of large mammals. These are wild boars, roe deer, moose and red deer.
The most numerous predator of the reserve is an ordinary fox. However, larger predators, such as wolves, are also found on the territory. Undoubtedly, beavers occupy the most important place in the life of the reserve, which, from several tens, multiplied to several hundreds.
The Voronezh Biosphere Reserve inhabits nine species of marten. Often you can find badgers. However, the most common are animals of the hamster family. Among this species, most often you can find various voles, for example, ordinary, red, water and dark.
The reserve is also home to many birds. Most often you can find geese, sparrows and falcons.
The history of the Danube Biosphere Reserve
The history of this protected place originates in 1981, when the Danube floodplains were created on the basis of the branch of the Black Sea Reserve. Then it occupied an area of almost 15 thousand hectares. Thanks to a World Bank grant, in 1995 it was possible to organize a huge Danube Biosphere Reserve on the basis of a small protected area.
It received its current size in 1998, after the Decree of the Head of State, its territory increased to almost 50 thousand hectares. The territory of the modern reserve includes the Stentsivsko-Zhebriyansky floodplains, the Zhebriyansky ridge, the Channel island of Ermakov. Included in its composition and fisheries, which is nearby.
The program for the development of protected areas provides for the expansion of the Danube Reserve by 2015 due to the most valuable wetlands in their ecosystem, which are located from the city of Reni. Consequently, soon the reserve will occupy all the territories of the most valuable wetlands of the Danube.
Activities of scientists
The Danube Biosphere Reserve was created in order to protect the unique nature of the Danube. Scientists carefully study the nature of the Danube Delta, conduct background monitoring of the ecological state, and also educate the population.
In addition, research is being carried out in the field of conservation, as well as environmental protection. Of particular importance is the study of anthropogenic factors that affect the state of the ecosystem as a whole. Events are also held here that help reduce the human impact on humans to a minimum.
The reserve cooperates with international organizations, including work on UNESCO programs. Thanks to this, public attention is actively drawn to the environmental problems of this region.
We study not only changes in the flora and fauna of the reserve, but also hydrological and climatic changes. Constant monitoring of the state of the Danube, marshes and small rivers is also ongoing.
Flora Nature Reserve
The flora of the reserve is rich in unique plants. Its flora has nearly 600 different species. This diversity of the plant world is preserved due to very fertile soil, as well as a large amount of moisture. In addition, the soil contains a huge amount of sludge caused by the river.
The most popular plant species are cattail narrow-leaved and bulrush. On the banks of the Danube, you will see thickets of willow, which have a width of about 100 meters. In this area there are white, three-stamen, elon and other species of this plant. In the coastal part of the reserve, you can find bush amorphous, sea buckthorn, and also tamoriz galus.
In tall grass you can see small areas with aquatic vegetation. White water lilies, thorny floaters, floating walnuts and floating salvins are rare species of plants that abound in the biosphere reserve. Photos of unique species until recently could only be seen in the Red Book of Ukraine. But thanks to the efforts of scientists, rare plants now feel comfortable in natural conditions.
Fauna
The fauna of the Danube Reserve is also unique. The largest number of species falls on birds. This feature of the reserve is due to the large amount of feed resources. Here you can see a seagull, heron, gray goose, coot, swan, ducks and tern. In addition, there are rare species of birds. Among them, one cannot but mention the pink pelican, the spoonbill, the curly pelican and the goose goose. On the territory of the reserve, not only birds rest during the flight, but some waterfowl also winter.
Here you can also find about 100 species of fish. Some species are very rare, for example, umber, chop small and large, sturgeon, as well as Danube salmon. Of the mammals in the reserve, you can find wild pigs, a forest cat and a raccoon dog, as well as several dozen reptiles and amphibians. Among the inhabitants of the reserve are more than 20 species of insects, which are listed in the Red Book.
History of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve
Its history began in 1924. Since that time, this protected area began to be protected at the legislative level. Previously, the Kuban Hunt organization was located here. The area of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve is more than 250 thousand ha. This reserve is unique in its beauty and diversity of species of fauna and flora.
In 1999, the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve was included in the list of natural sites of UNESCO that are of worldwide importance. The territory since 1997 is part of an international network of biosphere reserves. This is the only reserve of the Greater Caucasus, which is located at an altitude of almost 3.5 km above sea level.
Security activity
The Biosphere Reserve of the Caucasus is an object on whose territory environmental protection and educational activities are conducted. But what is a biosphere reserve and what are its main goals?
The Caucasus Nature Reserve is a strictly protected area where you can meet rare natural objects of important natural or scientific value. His employees are engaged in research of rare species found on its territory, monitoring the mechanisms of the biosphere, as well as monitoring the effects of technogenic factors on living organisms, as well as protecting them from these factors.
An important role in the work of scientists of the reserve is played by the protection of its territory from economic activity, because it should remain without any changes made to nature by man. Researchers consider the media to be their assistants, which help to conduct educational work among the population.
Reserve landscape
The Caucasian National Reserve has a unique geographical location. Here you can see alpine plateaus, rocks, hollows, cuest ridges, many small lakes and mountain rivers, coniferous and mixed forests.
What is a biosphere reserve in such a place? It has a mountainous terrain, which is characterized by vertical zonality. There are nival, subalpine, mixed forests, coniferous and beech forests and others. In the gorges you can see forests and meadows, as well as lakes and mountain rivers. The peaks of the mountains are covered with eternal glaciers, in which many small rivers of the reserve originate.
Vegetation
The flora of the reserve is diverse. In one territory, both tundra plants and thermophilic are found. In total, the region's flora has nearly 3 thousand species, of which more than 200 species are occupied by trees and shrubs.
Unique fir trees grow on the territory of the reserve. In addition, here you can find plants that have been preserved since the preglacial period. This is holly, yew, laurel and ginseng. There are a large number of different berry, fruit and medicinal plants.
Fauna of the Caucasian reserve
Nature reserves are primarily created to preserve the unique animals living in a particular region. More than 70 species of mammals live in the Caucasian reserve. Among them are wild boar, bear, red deer, lynx, Kuban wolf, foxes, badger, martens and other rare animals. Of particular importance for the reserve are the powerful bison.
In addition, more than 240 species of birds can be found on the reserve. These are rare species such as bearded, griffon vulture, golden eagle, Caucasian black grouse. Many of these birds nest in the Caucasus Biosphere Reserve.
The pride of the reserve is a huge variety of fish, of which there are about 20 species. Most often in the rivers you can see brook trout. In addition, there are ten species of amphibians, such as newt, tree frog and Caucasian cross, as well as almost 20 species of reptiles. The most common of these are the Caucasian lizard and viper. Many mushrooms grow on the territory of the reserve - almost a thousand species. Among them, 20 are listed in the Red Book.