Site: Desna River Floodplains

Designation date: 29-07-2004

Coordinates: 52°19'N 033°23'E

Elevation: 120 m

Area: 4,270 ha

Location: The site is located 45 km west of the town Seredyno-Buda (10,000 inhabitants) and 17 km north of Novgorod-Siverskyi (20,000 inhabitants). It is situated in the Sumy region, in the Seredyno-Buda district, near the border with Russia, in northeast Ukraine.

Criteria: 1 ,2 ,3 ,4 ,7 ,8

Importance: The wetland is a representative, well-preserved natural part of the Desna River in the eastern part of Polissya, in the Continental biogeographical region of Europe. The site supports IUCN red-listed species, such as the fish Acipenser ruthenus, the mammals Lutra lutra and Castor fiber, and the bird Crex crex. It also harbours nationally rare aquatic communities dominated by Trapa natans, Nymphoides peltata and Salvinia natans. The wetland is important for maintaining the biodiversity in the Polissya lowlands, as the fauna is composed of numerous species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, typical of floodplains. The aquatic and riparian vegetation is important as a nesting area for the birds Podiceps cristatus, P. nigricollis, Botaurus stellaris, Ixobrychus minutus, Rallus aquaticus, Porzana porzana, P. parva, Gallinula chloropus, Fulica atra, Chlidonias niger, C. leucopterus, C. hybrida, Circus aeruginosus, Locustella luscinioides, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, Anas acuta, A. clypeata, Xenus cinereus, Philomachus pugnax, Limosa limosa, Charadrius dubius, Larus ridibundus, L. minutus, Sterna hirundo and S. albifrons. The site is important for the conservation of fishes characteristic of the Desna and Dnipro basins (e.g. Scardinius erythrophtalmus, Tinca tinca, Abramis brama, Cyprinus carpio, silurus glanis, Misgurnus fossilis, Lota lota, Leuciscus idus), the nationally rare fishes Barbus barbus borysthenicus, Eudontomyzon mariae and the regionally rare fishes Chondrostoma nasus, Anquilla anquilla, Acerina acerina. The river offers appropriate conditions for feeding and breeding of fishes (e.g. spawning of Acipenser ruthenus) and it helps increasing the ichtyofauna of the lower areas of the river.

Wetland Types: M ,P ,U ,Xp ,9 (dominant types shown in bold)

The Desna river floodplains include permanent rivers and streams which form a well-developed river network, seasonal freshwater lakes (numerous former riverbeds, meanders, lakes, oxbows), mires and floodplain meadows, forested peatlands and canals and drainage channels.

Biological/Ecological notes: The plant cover is represented by a complex of wetland and floodplain vegetation: aquatic, air-aquatic, riverside, swamp, shrubs, meadow and partly forest communities. The main formations of aquatic vegetation are represented by Nymphea alba and Nuphar luteum. Vegetation of eutrophic fens is mainly represented by communities of Phragmites australis, Carex omskiana, Typha latifolia, T. angustifolia and Glyceria fluitans. The main vegetation types are floodplain over-damped meadows dominated by Festuca rubra and Poa pratensis, and swamped meadows dominated by Glyceria fluitans, Agrostis canina and Phalaroides arundinacea. The flora also includes the nationally red-listed Salix starkeana, S. myrtilloides and Dactylorhiza fuchsii, and regionally rare species such as Nymphea candida and Carex hartmanii. The fauna includes mammals (e.g. Arvicola terrestris, Ondatra zibethica, Talpa europaea, Nyctereutes procyonoides), birds (e.g. Ciconia nigra, Pandion haliaetus, Circaetus gallicus, Haematopus ostralegus, Riparia riparia, Alcedo atthis, Anas platyrhynchos, A. querquedula, Aythya ferina, Vanellus vanellus, Tringa totanus, T. stagnatilis, Gallinago gallinago, G. media, Anthus pratensis, Motacilla flava, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, Saxicola rubetra, Luscinia svecica), reptiles (e.g. Emys orbicularis, Natrix natrix, Coronella austriaca), amphibians (e.g. Triturus cristatus, Rana esculenta, R. ridibunda, R. terrestris, Bufo viridis), and invertebrates (e.g. Hirudo medicinalis).

Hydrological/Physical notes: The site's relief is composed of floodplain riparian and fluvio-glacial terraces, old valleys and ancient lake depressions. It is located in the riverbed of the Desna river (1,130 km long, catchment area 89,000 square km) including several small tributaries of the Desna river. The wetland is situated in the zone of moderate water content. The river network is composed of numerous former riverbeds, meanders, lakes, mires and floodplain areas due to high precipitations, the considerable module of river runoff and geomorphologic pecualarities of the region. Its width varies from 1 to 4 km. The river water supply is mixed, with domination of winter and spring runoff (mostly melted snow). The water level fluctuation ranges between 3 and 4 m. The spring floods promote the exchange of genetic material (aquatic fauna) between the floodplain basins. The wetland belongs to the Dnipro-Donets groundwater basin, located in quaternary sediments. The hydrographic network is located above the basic underground streams and it provides considerable amounts of water to the groundwater network. Soddy-podzolic sandy and loamy sand soils, formed on fluvioglacial sands and clayey sands prevail within the site. Mires of the Desna floodplains and floodplain meadows are peaty. The climate is temperate-continental, with an average annual air temperature of 5.4°C, and July being the warmest month (18.6°C) and January the coldest (-8.0°C). The precipitations amount 550-600 mm/year. The frost-free period lasts for 140 days and a stable snow cover lasts for 110 days.

Human Uses: The site is owned by the state (State Water Fund) and it is in use and tenure of the Desnyansko-Starogutskyi National Park Administration as hunting lands. The landuses include regulated hunting, nature conservation activities, scientific research (monitoring of biological and landscape diversity, inventory of the biota in the Nature Park, observation and ringing of birds), tourism (7,000 visitors/year), and regulated recreation activities (e.g. amateur fishing, picnics, boating). The surroundings are in state, private and municipal ownership. The landuses include agriculture (arable lands, hayfields, pastures), forestry, hunting, fishing and recreation. Environmental education is being conducted among tourists, inhabitants and schoolchildren of the surroundings through an ecological trail, publication of information leaflets about the Park's values, and regular ecological camps for school students (in 2002, start of project "Training in ecological camps in Desnyansko-Starogutskyi National Nature Park"). It is planned to build environmental education and recreation centers for the Nature Park.

Conservation Measures: The site is located within the (recreational zone of) Desnyansko-Starogutskyi National Nature Park (16,215 ha), which was created in 1999. Biodiversity management is conducted according to the Law of Ukraine on the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine (1992) and the Regulation (by-law) on the Desnyansko-Starogutskyi National Park (2001). The Administration of the Nature Park is responsible for maintaining the conservation of natural complexes and regulating sport fishing and limited hunting (based on scientifically justified quotas approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine). The implementation of nature conservation measures and activities according to the Management Plan of the territory, and the protection, use and restoration of natural complexes of the Nature Park has been approved by the Ministry of of the Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in 2001, but not yet been implemented. A site-specific management plan for the wetland will be developed soon.

Adverse Factors: Past adverse factors include drainage melioration and digging of ponds. At present, activities such as fishing, regulated hunting, haymaking, grazing and recreation pose a threat to the site. Adverse factors in the surroundings include forest felling and planting, hunting, fishing, recreation, plowing up of lands, haymaking and grazing.

Site Management: Administration of Desnyansko-Starogutskyi National Nature Park, Director: Mr. Oleksiy M. Kapirulya, 63 Novgorod-Siverska Str., Seredyno-Buda, Sumska Oblast, 41000, Ukraine. Tel/Fax: +380 545 19-14-49, +380 545 19-21-70. E-mail:ecosumy@utel.net.ua; eco20@eco20.freenet.kiev.ua.

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Based on the 2003 Ramsar Information Sheet.