Warm Sand

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Oleshkivski Sands (Олешківські піски) in Kherson region Southern Ukraine

Just about 30 kilometers east of the city Kherson in Ukraine a vaguely circular sand desert area can be found. The sand desert is about 15 km in diameter, with dunes up to 5 meters high.

It is said to be the largest sand dune area in Europe. It was formerly used as a bombing range by Warsaw Pact pilots and therefore contains numerous unexploded shells. It is believed that the area was a forest until the early 1880s when over grazing by sheep led to deforestation, erosion and desertification. A reforestation program is underway, working from the edges of the sand dunes and inwards.

Oleshkivski pisky (Oleshkivski Sands) is a tourist attraction. It is, in fact, a sort of a desert, “the biggest desert in Europe,” and crossing it may be fun.

For more culturally and historically minded people the attraction can lie in the fact that several centuries ago, the Oleshkivska Cossack Sich (settlement) was situated in the vicinity. The combination of wild nature and the historical site may prove to be luring for tourists with peculiar tastes.

The name comes from the old times (before 1925) when the city Tsyurupinsk was called Oleshko. The sand massif consist of sand with unlimited drift (local residents called them «snowdrifts»).

Oleshkivski sand in its current form was formed quite recently. In the Dnieper lowland there has always exsisted sand, but their advancement covered the steppe vegetation. In the nineteenth century they began with sheep in this area. Baron Falz-Fein, founder of Askania Nova (Wildlife Kherson), owned a huge flock of up to a million heads, which destroyed the grass, made sand advance and wind erosion gave the opportunity for the sand to expand even further. According to Kostychev who studied Oleshkivski Sands in 1880’s, he stated that no more than one hundred years time ago Oleshkivski sands were completely vegetated, with some trees. Kostychev do not believe like some say that the appearance of the sands are due to climate change in the area. There is no evidence for this statement. He firmly believes that the creation of widespread sand and gravel consolidation is due to increased grassing herds of sheeps.

An article in the Journal “???????????? ????????” from 1837 indicate that there existed over 5000 hectares of forest area on the sands in lower Dnieper River area in 1802 and that it by 1832 it fell to almost to zero.

There has been performed lots of research work to try to consolidate the sands began in late 19th century, with large-scale nature acquired in the years 1830-1840 to enhance forest growth. The period of general butting and giving farmers land (during the period from 1859 -1890) was a disaster for the forests as the area of the sands increased significantly. Recovery was extended and started properly in the 1920's. Sand was stopped at the edges of huge artificial forests with a total area of about 100000 hectares. The region acting Stepnoi branch UkrNII lisoahromelioratsiyi (UkrSRIFA) works and studies the complex problem of the sands, as well as creating obstacles to hinder the expansion of desert.

Actually Dniprovski sands cover an area of 161 200 hectares, and with Mizharennymy land around 210 000 hectares. Despite the fact that Oleshkivski is often called desert sands, it is not entirely correct. Temperature and precipitation can be attributed to the semi-dry. However, climatic conditions are such that in the summer sand is heated to 75 degrees celcius. The air above the sand warmed stronger as the summer rain drops quickly evaporates. The intensity of rain (according to some unconfirmed reports) is somewhat less than in Kherson city, which lies on the other bank of the river Dnieper. Although we can see progressing sand enter the outskirts of nearby settlements. In the desert at a depth of 300-400 meters there is a fresh underground lake with very tasty water. But the amount of water extracted can not be large because the water level will drop and the forests will not deter sands.

There are major factors which influence the ecological situation in the region - reducing the area of forests and reduce the layer of sand. There is reduced forest area due to felling, fires, loss of natural pine plantations, incapability of self-renewal which can lead to expansion of the sand massive. On the other hand, the uncontrolled use of sand for construction and placement of agricultural facilities in the region leads to lower groundwater and pollution, which could deprive the region of high quality drinking water and adversely affect the forest

On 20th of August 2007, in the Holoprystansk district of the Kherson region marked the beginning of the biggest forest fire over the last decade. At first the fire engulfed pine forest over around 200 hectares. As a result of the high air temperature and a stronger wind, the fire spread at a speed of 60 km/hour. The Ministry for Emergencies says that by 21st of August the flames had engulfed approximately 1,500 hectares of forest. On those same days, up to 200 hectares of Tsyurupinsk Forest burned down, while there were also major fires to plantations of Crimean pine at “Oleshkivski pisky”. From 22nd – 23rd of August the Ministry for Emergencies reported that the fires had been localized. However, the final calculations showed by the end of August that fires in the Kherson region alone had destroyed around 8000 hectares of forest. Overall in 2007 there were 367 forest fires in the Kherson region.

It should be noted that forest plantations in these areas are at risk of becoming desert instead of fulfilling the ecological and restoration functions. The forest is invaluable for protecting the soil and water and as a climate regulating factor. The loss of a manmade forest on thousands of hectares of the moving Nyzhnyodniprovski sands is undoubtedly an environmental disaster.

«The fight against major forest fires continues in the Kherson regions at the Minstry of ergencies website http://www.mns.gov.ua/news_show.php?news_id=5776.

The desert is returning. This year forests burned 367 times in the Kherson region in the newspaper “Weekly Mirror”, ? 32 (661), 1 — 8 September 2007, http://www.dt.ua/1000/1550/60326.

About the Author

He has a background as civil engineer and geoscientist. He has worked mainly within the oil and gas industry from the mid 1980s. He has written a few fictional novels as well as being the author of some professional litterature within oil and gas sector, he is now an editor of some web sites.

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