A nature reserve of international importance was flooded in the Kherson region

A nature reserve of international importance was flooded in the Kherson region

Katerina Belousova

The water level rose by 3 meters on an area of ​​more than 77,000 hectares

Due to the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP dam in the Kherson region, the Nizhnyodniprovsky National Nature Park was flooded.

This area is home to Emerald Network lands and Ramsar sites, which are of global importance due to their unique biodiversity, the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources reports on Facebook.

The message said that the national park was home to 120 valuable species of animals and plants. Currently, they are dying, as are their habitats. After all, the water level near the islands rose by 3 meters on an area of more than 77,000 hectares.

It is noted that one of the main migration routes of birds – the Dnipro River – passes through the territory of the Nizhny Dnipro National Park. Stopovers are very important for feeding and resting of migratory birds. 60 species of birds subject to protection were recorded on the territory of the national park.

"The flooding affected areas where typical and rare groups of floodplain forests, swamps, meadows, sandy steppes, steppe slopes of the Dnipro and streams, and rock outcrops have been preserved," the press service emphasized.

It is noted that the intensity of flooding is decreasing, but due to the destruction of the dam, water is still coming. In addition, water carries rocks, washes away soil, destroys buildings and equipment of the national park. Landslides were also recorded.

Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that two solar power plants were flooded in the Mykolaiv Oblast due to the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP.

As EcoPolitic previously reported, on the night of June 6, the Russian occupiers blew up the dam at the Kakhovskaya HPP. The Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management stated that the undermining of the dam at the Kakhovskaya HPP led to a man-made disaster and an extraordinary environmental situation, which brings destruction with deep and irreversible changes in nature and ecowaste.

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