It took many years to grant the Kuialnyk Estuary protected status, and this was achieved thanks to the efforts of scientists, research and educational institutions, and civic organizations. The establishment of the protected area was preceded by a large number of scientific studies focusing on biodiversity, landscape features, hydrological conditions, and other factors.
It took many years to grant the Kuialnyk Estuary protected status, and this was achieved thanks to the efforts of scientists, research and educational institutions, and civic organizations. The establishment of the protected area was preceded by a large number of scientific studies focusing on biodiversity, landscape features, hydrological conditions, and other factors.
Work to include the natural complexes of the Kuialnyk Estuary in Ukraine’s nature reserve fund was initiated by the State Environmental Protection Administration in the Odesa Region in 2009. As part of the project “Integrated Use of Eurasian Steppe Lands,” the Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds, in collaboration with specialists from the I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University, developed a scientific rationale for the creation of the Kuialnytskyi National Nature Park. As part of the international project “Strengthened Economic and Legal Instruments for the Conservation of Steppe Biodiversity, Climate Change Adaptation, and Mitigation (Steppe Biodiversity)” (DCI-ENV/2010/221-005), the scientific rationale for establishing the Park was further refined between 2011 and 2013.
Since 2011, a significant number of meetings have been held at the Odesa Regional State Administration and the district state administrations of the Odesa region regarding the establishment of the Kuialnytskyi National Nature Park and the coordination of its boundaries.
The issue was considered at sessions of village councils and at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Ecology, Natural Resource Management, Emergencies, and Disaster Relief of the Odesa Regional Council; relevant discussions were held with land users and natural resource users, based on the results of which the area of the future park was adjusted.
In 2018, the Kuialnyk Estuary was granted the status of a resort of national importance in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Declaring the Natural Territories of the Kuialnyk Estuary in the Odesa Region a Resort of National Importance.” Regional authorities had sought this status as early as 2014, noting the “particularly valuable, unique natural therapeutic resources” of the body of water—brine (water with a high degree of mineralization) and peloids (therapeutic mud). These resources are used to treat diseases of the nervous and digestive systems, the musculoskeletal system, and others.
In March 2021, the government approved the establishment of the Kuialnytskyi National Nature Park, and on January 1, 2022, the Park was officially established by a decree of the President of Ukraine within the territories of the Berezivka and Odesa districts of Odesa Oblast. The purpose of establishing the park is to preserve, restore, and effectively utilize natural complexes and sites in the Kuialnyk Estuary basin that possess special environmental, recreational, historical-cultural, scientific, educational, and aesthetic value. The territory of the Kuialnytskyi National Nature Park includes 10,800.8867 hectares of state- and municipally-owned land, namely: 3,490.6753 hectares granted to the national nature park for permanent use, and 7,310.2114 hectares included in its territory without being expropriated from land users.