In a historical grove in the Rostov region, the Bolshaya Cherepakha River was manually cleared

In Taganrog, Rostov region, the clearing of the small Bolshaya Cherepakha (Big Turtle) river in the historical Dubki grove has been completed.

“The Bolshaya Cherepakha flows into the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. Due to intense anthropogenic load, the object became swamped and covered with duckweed. The protected area is located inside a dense residential area. By the time clearing began, the reservoir had practically lost its ability to clean itself. This also affected the condition of the area where the river flows,” the report says.

The Dubki Grove is a monument to steppe afforestation in Russia. The first seedlings appeared there thanks to Emperor Peter I.

“In order not to disturb the ecosystem of a natural monument of regional importance and not to distort the valuable landscape, mechanized equipment was completely abandoned during clearing. About a kilometer of the riverbed was manually cleared of thickets of aquatic plants and bushes. Accumulations of silt at the bottom were collected with shovels. Restoring the water body was necessary to improve the environmental well-being of Taganrog: the balka (small river), in which dozens of real turtles live, is popular among city residents. In the dense shade of oak trees, near the water, Taganrog residents take a break from the sweltering southern heat,” said Mikhail Fishkin, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Rostov Region, whose words are quoted in the message.

The clearing of the Big Turtle was carried out within the framework of the federal project “Preservation of Unique Water Bodies” of the national project “Ecology”. Rosvodresursy allocated 6.7 million rubles for the development of the project and implementation of activities in 2022-2023.

“In the Rostov region, since the beginning of the implementation of the national project “Ecology”, Rosvodresursy also financed the clearing of the Kumshak, Temernik, and Glubokaya rivers. A project for the Chernaya River is in development. The restoration of these water bodies helps improve the condition of the main river in the south of Russia - the Don, the improvement of which is carried out according to the “road map” approved by the Russian government,” said Natalia Sologub, deputy head of Rosvodresursy, as quoted by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

According to the department, in general, the federal project’s activities in 2023 will make it possible to clear over 60 kilometers of river beds and about three thousand hectares of reservoirs. Work is taking place in the Volga, Kama, Ob, Yenisei, and Amur basins.

“Since the beginning of the implementation of the Ecology national project, it has been possible to improve the condition of the hydrographic network over a length of over 359 kilometers and an area of more than 17 thousand hectares,” the Ministry of Natural Resources reported.