Askania-Nova, the pearl of the steppes
With a visitor capacity of 100,000, Askania-Nova attracts 190,000 visitors every year
The Ukrainian Black Sea region is a territory that has been greatly changed by man. Dating to the times of Aratta, Oriana, Olvia, and Artania, the history of this land is incomparably rich. This is the land of the Scythians, which was crossed by the Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians, and other tribes. This is where Askania-Nova is located-in Chaplynka raion of Kherson oblast.
Askania-Nova, which covers 33,307.6 hectares, is a biosphere reserve located in the fescue-and-feather grass steppe, the only area of its kind in Europe. The reserve was established by Falz-Fein, who used over 1,665 hectares of his grassland for this purpose in 1889. This date marks the founding of the first nature preserve in the Russian Empire. Tsar Nicholas II called Askania “a picture from the Bible.”
WHAT ASKANIA RESTS ON
The operation of biosphere reserves is coordinated by UNESCO. By the decisions contained in the “Man and Biosphere” program, this organization included Ukraine’s reserves in the worldwide network of biosphere reserves.
The left-bank part of the Black Sea lowlands, where Askania-Nova is located, is a virtually flat surface: it is a terrace carved out by an ancient (Neogene) sea. After it receded for good, a long continental period set in. At this time a thick (20-meter high) layer of loess was formed on top of sea deposits.
Loess is a unique kind of rock. It is soft to the touch, porous, yellowish, and it forms vertical walls when it is washed out. In Northern China there is an entire plateau formed of loess (aptly called the Loess Plateau). Chernozems, the most fertile soils in the world, were formed on top of loess with the contribution of steppe vegetation after the Ice Age, more than 300,000 years ago.
If you take a closer look at the flat surface of the Askanian steppe, you will find steppe saucers (3 to 5-meter-wide depressions) and poorly delineated ravines and hollows stretching from the northeast to the southeast. The most important thing for Askania-Nova, especially in the heat of the summer, is water. There are no surface water courses there, only underground ones. The active water cycle zone reaches a depth of 150 meters. The topmost aquiferous stratum, which carries the most mineralized water (adequate for household requirements) lies 25 meters under the ground. Drinking water is drawn from 40 to 80-meter-deep artesian wells.
From above, Askania-Nova resembles a science-fiction spaceship hovering over Ukraine’s steppes. In reality, the steppe reserve is made up of three relatively distinct parts: the Northern part, the Southern part (including two areas: the Old area and Uspenivka), and the Great Chapelsky Lowland. The Northern and Southern parts are divided by a highway connecting Askania and Chkalove. Uspenivka has been part of the reserve system since 1927, while the other areas have been used as pastures for cattle and haymaking.
The Great Chapelsky Lowland (2,376.4 hectares, or 20 percent of the reserve’s area) is situated to the northwest of the Northern and Southern areas. This is a unique depression (up to 9 meters deep) which is periodically filled with meltwater and where the Askania-Nova zoo’s hoofed animals are kept in enclosures. The lowest part is where hydrophytes grow, in particular starfruit (Damasonium alisma), the rarest hydrophyte in Ukraine. The Great Chapelsky Lowland is a water-marshland of international significance.
FLORA AND FAUNA
Nearly 500 species of higher plants grow in the wild steppe, creating a unique bouquet of scents and visual images. Perennials predominate (51 percent), while 13 species have been placed on the Red List of Ukraine. Caragana scythica is a subshrub with yellow flowers and barbs. One of the most vulnerable to grazing is the Ukrainian feather grass (Stipa ucrainica), common primarily to the southern part of the Black Sea region. Stipa lessingiana covers nearly half of Ukraine: the entire mainland south and southeast. Stipa capillata has a story of its own: at the end of hot July, when most steppe plants have already withered, it blossoms with the metallic gleam of its awns.
Red-listed tulips blossom in the Askania steppe in springtime: Tulipa schrencii with its red, or less common yellow or whitish, flowers and Tulipa scythica with its modestly colored yellow flowers (it does not grow anywhere else in Ukraine except Askania). There is also the checkered lily (Fritillaria meleagris) whose brown-purple flowers with their whitish, checkered pattern hang down like little bells.
In July and August the salty areas of the steppe are dotted with the purple blossoms of Allium regelianum. It is preceded, in June and July, by the no less bright blossoms of Allium scythicum whose perianth has beige or lilac-tinted leaves.
The reserve has a rich avifauna represented by 272 species. The buffer zone of the reserve is home to over 1,000 bustards. The autumn passage of birds that stop and even winter in the Great Chapelsky Lowland is an amazing sight: the phantasmagoric honking of many thousands of birds that hover above the ground forming a dark, menacing cloud and then come down like an ear-splitting avalanche.
The reserve’s state protection service combats poaching primarily in the buffer zone, where hunting is prohibited. On one of my trips to the reserve I was shown an information sign with the marks left by a round of bullets from a submachine gun.
A PLACE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
During its 115 years of existence Askania-Nova’s arboretum has become an important center known for its rare and unusual trees in the far southern part of Ukraine’s steppe zone. The arboretum consists of three tracts: the old botanical garden, the forest-steppe tract with sparse forests and oak groves, and the new park. They differ as to their age, species, structure of plantations, and the design of their centers. What unites them is the way they harmonize with the surrounding “steppescape” and make an impression of natural vegetation.
The other part of the park zone features a succession of forest and park landscapes, open and closed spaces, picturesque clearings, as well as tree plantations, groups, and individual trees and shrubs against the background of a pond. The skillfully crafted pond with its small island is located in the center of the park. Next to it is a glade with sparse groups of conifers. Despite its age, the old botanical park preserves the purity and perfection of its artistic image.
The new park was established in the landscape style, harmoniously combining trees and clearings, as well as a system of lakes, hills, and other elements of landscape architecture. It contains a number of ponds, huge glades, and man-made hills that offer a panoramic view of the entire park. The mysterious Polovtsian stone statues that are scattered here and there are reminders of Tavria’s ancient history.
The zoological park of Askania-Nova covers 61.6 hectares of land and has over 4,000 animals representing 118 species, subspecies, forms, and breeds. This collection is the largest source in Ukraine for supplying wild animals to zoos and other nature-protection institutions. Swimming birds are kept in four large bodies of water that were built in 1892 and in later years.
Both the arboretum and the zoo belong to the reserve’s buffer zone, in violation of the law of Ukraine “On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine.” A separate law of Ukraine, “On the Askania-Nova Biosphere Nature Reserve,” must be drafted. The reason why there is still no draft law is that the reserve is managed by the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences. Ukraine’s nature reserves are in a state of nearly complete disorganization primarily because they are managed by different institutions.
Nevertheless, Askania-Nova offers scientific and educational recreation opportunities, particular in the arboretum and the zoological park. The number of visitors has topped 190,000 per year, although the capacity is set at 100,000. The influx of tourists swelled from 15,000 in the mid-1990s to 75,000 people per year.
Askania-Nova offers ecotourism services along the following routes: the zoological park and the arboretum, the Great Chapelsky Lowland (to observe the herds of wild animals, in vans or on horseback), and the steppe reserve (on foot). The reserve also organizes themed tours with research associates acting as guides to the steppe, arboretum, and zoological park.
In conclusion, I would like to share my experiences from a business trip to Askania-Nova. While there is utter chaos outside the reserve, order reigns inside. This is especially true of the zoo: it is clean and tidy, and the animals are well cared for. At dawn I would rush off to the zoo and see people already working there, cleaning the enclosures and feeding the animals. Viktor Havrylenko, the director of the preserve, is strict with himself and his subordinates, and is a conscientious, honest, and highly principled man. He showed me what used to be Falz-Fein’s house. It is being restored and Havrylenko, a romantic, is sure that in the future it will host the preserve’s scientific museum.
