Lower Dniester National Nature Park
The Lower Dniester National Nature Park is a national park in the Odessa region, spread over an area of 213 km2.
Only 37 km2 are directly subordinated to the national park, the remaining 176 km2 are the property of land users and agricultural activities are carried out on them with the fulfillment of all basic requirements for the protection of nature. The village of Mayaki is the closest to the national park. According to archaeological excavations, there was a permanent settlement here already 400-300 years BC. Remains of settlements of the 2nd millennium BC were also discovered. For the first time, Lighthouses were mentioned in writing in the 15th century, and with the growth of Odessa, the village became an important transit point.
In 1993, the Dniester Floodplains Nature Reserve was established with an area of 76 km2, which eventually became the core of the Lower Dniester National Nature Park. The national park itself was created only in 2008. The purpose of the park is to preserve and reproduce the unique natural complexes of the Dniester. The Lower Dniester has a very rich fauna, due to the inclusion of the northern part of the Dniester estuary, as well as the marshy territories of the "Dniester-Turunchuk Interfluve". Of the birds living here, 20 species of animals, 58 species of birds, 9 fish and 20 insects are listed in the Ukrainian version of the Red Book. Over 700 plant species grow throughout the park, 28 of them are very rare.
According to its functional significance, the park is divided into 4 zones: protected, regulated and stationary restoration, as well as an economic zone. For the development of ecological tourism, the park management has developed 4 educational routes. The length of the "Kingdom of Birds" water route is 20 km, during which guests of the park will be taken by boat along the Dniester riverbed, Deep Turunchuk to the Dniester estuary, then tourists return through the Kilyary Bayou to the Lighthouses. During this fascinating excursion, pelicans, cormorants, herons, terns, swans are found, and you can also see huge thickets of yellow eggshells. Another route, the Dniester Amazon, runs along the Dniester River through the Amazon River. There are also routes "Brilliant Ibis", "Old Turunchuk", as well as the hiking trail "Gontarenko Island".
