Meotyda National Nature Park

Meotida National Nature Park covers a stretch of coastline, and interior estuaries and coastal lands, on the northern edge of the Sea of Azov in Ukraine. The administration of the park itself has been disrupted by hostilities in the area. Previously, the protected regions of the park supported important populations of migratory waterfowl and over 100 species of nesting birds. The current status of wildlife depends on the varying levels of military activity in the park. Administratively, the park encompasses several subsidiary nature reserves and state lands, which retain their legal status.. The park is named for the Maeotians, an ancient people who lived on the Azov shores; ancient names for the Sea of Azov itself included Lake Maeotis and the Maeotian Sea. The park crosses several administrative districts, including Nikolske Raion, Novoazovsk Raion, and Manhush Raion in Donetsk Oblast

Meotida was assembled in 2009 to cover a number of smaller nature reserves, state lands, and cultural monuments along the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, in the southwest corner of Donetsk Oblast. The park is close to the Mariupol, and is about 80 miles south of the regional city of Donetsk and 40 miles west of the border with Russia. The area's habitats themselves show great diversity: steppe, coastal plain, floodplain swamps, estuaries with variable salinity, spits, peninsulas, sandy-shell islands, dunes and saline lakes. The two main coastal sections for birds are the Belosariaiskka Spit in the west, and the Kryva Bay and Kryva Spit in the east.

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