Novoazovsk

The National Natural Park "Meotida" is located in the south of the Donetsk region, covering a two-kilometer coastal zone of the Sea of Azov for 150 kilometers.

The reserve was created in 2000. It received the name of the ancient country of the Meotids, a tribe of Meots who lived in the 1st millennium BC in the Azov region. The area of the park is 13 thousand hectares of territory and the same amount of water area.

The park "Meotida" includes the nature reserves of national importance "Bilosarayska Kosa" and "Pryazovsky Chapelnyk", the ornithological reserve of local importance "Kryvokosky estuary", natural monuments of local importance "Kryva Kosa" and "Pine crops", as well as the regional landscape park "Polovtsian Steppe".

More than 250 species of birds (including curly pelicans) and 47 species of mammals have been registered on the territory of the reserve, some of them are listed in the Red Book. The flora of the park has preserved the aboriginal features of the steppe vegetation, which includes 640 species, including more than 40 endemic ones.

In 2001, Meotida Park was accepted into the international organization "Federation of Europarks".

Excursions for children and adults, boat trips, bird watching and horseback riding are available. In particular, tourists can observe the life of unique birds in their natural environment from the 26-meter tower.

Russian armed aggression in the east of Ukraine led to serious environmental consequences, including in the territory of the Meotida National Nature Park, which was damaged during the hostilities. Some objects of the nature reserve fund of the reserve were damaged or destroyed by shelling.