Meotida

The ancient Greeks called the Sea of Azov “Meotida”. (1) Indeed, the Sea of Azov was the breadwinner for the peoples living on its coast, who caught sea fish and hunted birds that lived on the coast. In the 30s of the XX century, 60-80 kilograms of fish were caught from one hectare of the water surface, which is 35 times more than in the neighboring Black Sea!

Meotida is the name of a National Landscape Park (NLP) created on the coast of the Sea of Azov in the Donetsk region. The Park stretches for one hundred and fifty kilometers along the coast of the Sea of Azov and covers two kilometers of the coastline.

The territory of the Park was specially allocated to preserve the diversity of the animal and plant world by creating conditions by which the maximum number of species can be restored. (2) It has preserved native features of steppe vegetation and includes a number of species listed in the Red Book of Donbass. The fauna is also unique. Currently, the Park has 47 species of mammals (including steppe polecat, Mediterranean bat and eared hedgehog, which are listed in the Red Book of Donbass), and 7 species of reptiles. (3)

More than 250 species of birds have been registered on the territory of the Meotida National Park, some of which are listed in the Red Book. Grey and red herons, laughing gull, black-headed gull, cuckoo, hoopoe, eared owl and even pelican are the few inhabitants of the Park that you can see! Thousands of birds on the sea coast is worth to watch.

In addition, more than 60 archaeological artifacts were found on the territory of NLP "Meotida". The remains of the culture and architecture of the ancient Slavs, Greeks and Don Cossacks are perfectly preserved. Flocks of black sea gulls is the main object of attention. (4) It’s the smallest, most freshwater, most productive and most remote from the world ocean sea on the globe!