Oksky or Oka Nature Reserve is a biosphere reserve
in Russia. The reserve is located in Spassky, Klepikovsky and
Kasimovsky districts of the Ryazan region in the southeastern part
of the Meshchersky lowland. The main part of the reserve is located
on the left bank of the river Pra. The reserve also includes the
rivers Lamsha and Black. The site of the widest floodplain of the
Oka abounding in floodplain lakes, included in the protected zone of
the reserve. The central manor of the reserve is located in the
village of Brykin Bor.
Borders of the Oka Reserve with the
allocation of zones
The reserve area is 56 027 ha, including:
forest - 50 461.5 ha,
marshes - 2,539.5 ha,
open and dry lands -
2,089.4 ha,
lakes and rivers - 637.6 ha.
Around the reserve
there is a security zone of 23,669 hectares.
Since September
13, 1994, the “Floodplain sections of the Pra and the Oka rivers” of
the reserve have the status of wetlands of international importance.
06/24/1986. The Oka Reserve is recognized by the World Network of
UNESCO "Man and the Biosphere" (MAB) to meet the requirements for
biosphere reserves. In 2000, the reserve is classified as a key
ornithological territory of international importance.
The
reserve is characterized by a temperate continental climate. The
average annual air temperature is 4.2 °. The average annual rainfall
is 534 mm.
As a strict nature reserve, the Oka Reserve is mostly closed to the general public, although scientists and those with 'environmental education' purposes can make arrangements with park management for visits. Tourists are welcome in Birkin forest buffer area. There are also a number of 'ecotourist' routes open to the public; these require permits to be obtained in advance. The local office is in the village of Birkin Bor.
The Oksky State Reserve was established on February 10, 1935. In May
1939, the area of the reserve was significantly increased, after which
it was repeatedly changed.
One of the main activities of the
reserve is an in-depth study of individual species of animals. Since the
first years of the existence of the reserve, a lot of work has been
carried out to study and protect the rarest animal of our fauna - the
muskrat. Methods for its quantitative accounting have been developed and
the reasons for the reduction in numbers have been clarified;
recommendations for the restoration of the livestock of this species are
given.
In 1937-1940, the beaver was reacclimatized, completely
destroyed in the Ryazan region at the beginning of the last century. By
1950, beavers had mastered the entire territory of the reserve and
settled far beyond its borders, more than 500 Oka beavers were captured
and taken to other regions of Russia. Currently, there are more than 500
beavers on the territory of the core of the reserve, the northern
biosphere test site and the buffer zone.
Thanks to the status of
the reserve, the number of the original inhabitant of the Meshchera
forests, the elk, has been restored. In the first years of formation in
the territory of the reserve, there were no more than 10 animals (0.5
animals per 1000 hectares), now its density reaches 10-17 animals per
1000 hectares.
In 1959, a nursery of purebred
Caucasian-Belovezhskaya bison was created on the territory of the
Lakashinsky forestry, which later became part of the reserve's
biospheric range. For the formation of breeding groups in the nursery in
1959-1962, 1967 and 1972-1991. 19 bison were imported (8 males and 11
females). For the period from 1960 to 1994. the offspring was obtained
in the amount of 295 copies, of which 76.2% were successfully grown, 20
animals were culled, 167 were exported. Five bison were sent to Romania.
The nursery of rare species of cranes was organized as part of the
Oksky Nature Reserve in 1979 and was an integral part of the
Soviet-American program for the restoration of the fading population of
the Russian endemic Siberian Crane. The first director of the crane
nursery was Candidate of Biological Sciences V. G. Panchenko. Thanks to
Panchenko, the nursery acquired its modern look - he organized a crane
hatchery, aviaries for the breeding stock of cranes. Under Panchenko
V.G., cranes began to be artificially inseminated and a large number of
chicks were obtained, which were reintroduced back into nature. The
study of biology, behavior, keeping, breeding, rehabilitation and
veterinary science of cranes, along with the construction and operation
of the crane nursery, became a great merit of Panchenko V.G. in the
conservation of cranes in Russia. During the operation of the nursery,
more than 200 birds have been obtained and grown.
In 1985, the
reserve was given the status of a biosphere reserve.
In 1995, the
reserve was awarded a category "A" diploma of the Council of Europe.
In 2010, the Ryazansky State Nature Reserve of federal significance
was attached to the reserve, as an independent unit.
The experimental principle has always been expressed in the
activities of the Oksky Reserve. The Central Ornithological Station,
organized in 1956, developed methods for the mass marking of birds,
accounting for their numbers and prey, and studied migration. A special
group of biological surveys has done a lot to improve the methods of
counting game animals and determining their resources. In the nursery of
the Bialowieza-Caucasian bison, they study the biology and problems of
restoring the population of these animals. In recent years, the crane
nursery has been vigorous, the task of which is to develop methods for
the conservation and increase in the number of rare species of crane. In
the 1980s, research was carried out in collaboration with American
ornithologists.
The reserve closely cooperates with many research
and higher educational institutions, scientists and promoters of
environmental knowledge. One of the zoologists, a specialist in birds of
prey, professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University, doctor of
science Galushin Vladimir Mikhailovich. For several decades, he brought
students from the Moscow State Pedagogical University (formerly the
Moscow State Pedagogical Institute named after Lenin) to field practice
in protected areas.
Currently, the Institute of Ecology and
Evolution named after A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
the Institute of Biology of Inland Waters named after A.N. I. D.
Papanina RAS, Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov,
Voronezh State University, Ryazan State University and many other
organizations. In 2009, a rehabilitation center (Bird Shelter) was
organized in the buffer zone of the reserve under the direction of Ph.D.
n Romanova V.V. on the release into nature of wild animals in trouble.
In general, the main scientific task of the Oksky Reserve is to
study the natural course of processes in the unique natural complex of
Meshchera, which is gradually losing ground under the pressure of not
always reasonable human activity, and to preserve its unique appearance,
so impressively sung by K. G. Paustovsky.
Of the forests, pine forests with birch and an admixture of
broad-leaved species predominate. Oka forests are common in the
floodplains of the Oka and Pra. In the center of the reserve is a vast
Babi swamp. The flora includes over eight hundred species of flowering
and vascular spore plants, among them 69 rare and 5 endangered,
including 10 orchid species. There is also a relict center of water
chestnut - chilim, in which 11 species were found. One type of chilim is
endemic. There is a relic water fern - Salvinia floating. Coastal and
aquatic vegetation is well developed.
266 species of birds have
been registered on the territory of the reserve, including:
(capercaillie, hazel grouse, black grouse, gray crane, black stork, gray
heron, great and little bittern, oystercatcher, common kingfisher,
golden bee-eater, white-tailed eagle, osprey, woodcock , black kite,
buzzard). Over 150 species nest in the reserve. Feathered inhabitants of
swamps and reservoirs are ducks (mainly mallards and teals), geese,
various sandpipers (including great snipe and snipe), gulls, terns,
herons, cranes, shepherds. Thousands of flocks of migratory waterfowl
stop at the Oka spills. The black stork, osprey, white-tailed eagle,
black kite, goshawk are rare and now protected birds that nest in the
reserve.
On the territory of the Oksky Reserve in 1979, a nursery
of rare species of cranes was organized, including the endangered
Siberian Crane. The collection of Siberian Cranes was formed by
receiving specimens from nature or by obtaining them from breeding
centers. Grown up chicks are released into nature in the habitats of the
species, a small part of them remain in the nursery or go to the Cranes
Breeding and Conservation Centers.
There are 61 species of
mammals in the reserve: (elk, wild boar, European roe deer, fox, common
beaver, European mink, otter, ermine, marten, raccoon dog, muskrat,
squirrel, bats). In the fauna of the reserve there are 39 species of
fish: (perch, pike, crucian carp, ide, roach, silver bream, bream,
etc.), 11 - amphibians, 6 - reptiles.
The fauna of amphibians
(amphibians) has 10 species, reptiles (reptiles) - 5.
The
richness of the fauna of the reserve is due to the diversity and
alternation of landscapes and types of vegetation. There are many bats,
mouse-like rodents, hares, predatory animals, elks. The beaver is
acclimatized, densely populating the reservoirs of the reserve and its
environs. The muskrat, the raccoon dog and the wild boar have spread
from neighboring territories and have taken root at housewarming.
Particular attention is paid to the protection and study of the desman,
for the sake of which the reserve was created.