Stone Steppe Reserve

Kamennaya Steppe is an extensive nature reserve in the southeast of the Voronezh region, which has the status of a protected area of federal significance. The reserve is located on a flat watershed between the rivers Bityug and Khoper, tributaries of the Don. This unique man-made ecosystem is located far away from large cities, which does not deter tourists, who are attracted by the amazing landscapes of the primitive steppe, recreated over the past 130 years, dense forests, clean rivers and lakes, the opportunity to see the unintimidated inhabitants of forests, to observe the nests of birds. Kamennaya steppe is included in the list of 7 wonders of the Voronezh region.

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Video: Stone Steppe

Contents

Highlights

The Kamennaya Steppe Reserve differs from other protected areas of Russia by the fact that here, on 5230 hectares of land, brought into complete disrepair by unreasonable human activity, a landscape close to its original appearance was created. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, peasants who moved to the Don plowed the virgin steppe for wheat fields, depriving the surface of the land of its protective grass cover. In 150 years, rain and wind destroyed the fertile layer, turning the flowery land into a lifeless desert. People called it the Stone Steppe, because the dried soil, cracked by droughts, protruded a rocky hardness.

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At the end of the century before last, a group of scientists led by St. Petersburg professor V. Dokuchaev undertook to revive the Stone Steppe. Their work laid the foundation for a miraculous transformation of the dreary landscape. The work continues to this day.

In this picturesque place, as if in an immense botanical garden, collected up to 800 species of plants – from steppe grasses and flowers to forest 150-year-old giants. In 2012, the Kamennaya Steppe Reserve was included in the list of specially protected areas of the Russian Federation, known as the “Emerald Book of Russia”. This publication was prepared by scientists of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The work is the fruit of cooperation with the Emerald Network program under the patronage of the European Union and the Council of Europe. The goal of the project is to preserve pristine landscapes, endangered animal species and their habitats.

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History of the reserve

The stone steppe, covered with two-meter-high sagebrush and dense oak trees, belonged to the lands of a vast flat country, which ancient geographers called Scythia. Archaeologists find ancient burial mounds, Scythian ceramics and fragments of weapons from the 5th century B.C. A thousand years later, the Bulgars and Khazars roamed here. In the Middle Ages, the western border of the Khazar Khaganate passed in the Don region, and hordes of Pechenegs moved through these steppes to Russia. In the virgin steppe there were no permanent settlements, these uninhabited desert places Russian chroniclers called Wild Field. After the collapse of the Golden Horde in the XV century, a new state formation of nomads – the Nogai Horde ruled here. To counterbalance the Tatar raids, the Don Cossacks were formed to protect the southern borders of the Russian lands. In the 17th century, settlers from the regions of the Russian state moved here.

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At the beginning of the XVIII century, when Peter the Great started building shipyards for the Azov flotilla, he was reported that 100 versts south of Voronezh discovered an oak forest with centuries-old trees suitable for the construction of strong naval ships. In 1709 Peter personally inspected the oak forest and named it Shipovy Forest, from the English word “ship”. Now Shipov Forest is included in the territory of the protected Kamennaya Steppe.

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In the Petrine era, fertile black soil was discovered under steppe grasses that had never known a plow. Farmers began to actively cut and uproot forests, burn grass, plow virgin land and grow crops and vegetables here. But by the middle of the XIX century the abundant harvests dried up. Steppe dry winds year after year blew away the fertile layer of land, rivers became shallow, ravines and gullies washed away by rains crept along the exposed surface of soft limestone bedrock. The apotheosis of unreasonable predatory activity was a prolonged drought that destroyed crops at the root in 1891, and the ensuing famine that swept through the population of the southeastern provinces of the Russian Empire.

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In 1892, Russian geologist and soil scientist, professor of St. Petersburg University Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev published a major work “Our Steppes Before and Now”, where the scientist proposed a long-term program for the restoration of depleted fertile lands, large-scale recreation of steppe landscapes and water resources. The professor’s attention was focused on the interfluve of the Volga and Don rivers. In the spring of 1892, an expedition led by Dokuchaev arrived to the territory of the future Kamennaya Steppe Reserve. A stationary scientific base, a forest nursery where seedlings of drought-resistant plants were grown, and the Kamennaya Steppe Forestry were established here. New agrotechnical technologies were developed at the experimental agricultural station. Thus began long-term works on transformation of the destroyed steppe, designed for many decades. Over time, forest belts were planted in the Kamennaya Steppe to protect the fields from the wind, artificial reservoirs and irrigation facilities were created. Even during the scientist’s lifetime, the revitalized territory of the Kamennaya Steppe was called the Dokuchaev Oasis.

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Since 1946, the Dokuchaev Research Institute of Agriculture of the Central Black Earth Strip has been operating here. For scientific observations, special locations have been arranged on the territory, designated on maps as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd sites of the Dokuchaev Institute.

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On May 25, 1996, a government decree declared the territory of the Kamennaya Steppe a State Reserve. It is under the jurisdiction of the Voronezh Biosphere Reserve.

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Geography

The state reserve “Kamennaya Steppe” is spread over an area of more than 5200 hectares 160 kilometers from Voronezh, on the territory of Talovsky district. Here is the geographical boundary between the forest zone of the southern end of the Central Russian Upland and the forest-steppe zone of the Ox-Don Plain. From the village of Talovaya, the district administrative center, to the cordon of the reserve – 12 km to the south.

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The relief of the area is flat, abounding in terraces, ravines and gullies, there are round hollows with gentle slopes, hills covered with forests. One of the characteristic features of the local relief is karst sinkholes 1.5-2.5 meters deep, washed out by rains in the exposed chalky bedrock of the mainland. Streams and small rivers flow through the valley gullies, some of them are dammed. There are a total of 27 artificial ponds in the reserve, which resemble natural forest lakes. The largest of them are located in the eastern part of the Kamennaya Steppe, namely two Dokuchaev reservoirs in the Talovaya gully. The locals call them the Talovaya Seas. The reservoirs store about 9 million cubic meters of water, and the total water mirror exceeds 100 hectares. Floodplain terraces of the reservoirs are covered with forests and shrubs, here one can find plants, birds and animals listed in the Red Book.

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Part of the territory consists of fallow lands. These are areas of former peasant fields, but the arable land has not been used for many years. The earliest fallow has not been cultivated since 1882. Only haying is allowed here, and pinnate-hemlock grasses predominate. On the area of about 18 hectares there are specially protected abandoned fallow lands, where any agricultural activity, movement of motor vehicles and pedestrians is prohibited. Here for the past 130-150 years the characteristic steppe vegetation has been revived. This area is under the supervision of scientists of the special department of the Dokuchaev Institute. Soil scientists and botanists from all over the world come to Kamennaya Steppe to get acquainted with the unique experience.

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Flora and fauna of the Kamennaya Steppe

The forest belts and local oak forests, established by Professor Dokuchaev and his collaborators in the late 19th – early 20th century, have now turned into dense forest cordons reflecting the gusts of the steppe wind. These are tiered ecosystems inhabited by millions of birds. The tallest trees – mighty oaks, slender maples and ash trees – have risen to a height of 25 meters and more. Limes, pears and apple trees nestled under the crowns of the giants. Acacia and cherry trees occupy their niche in the ecosystem. Under them, impenetrable shrubs: honeysuckle, birch bark, cherry. Wet slopes of gullies and ravines are strengthened by thickets of hazel-nut trees. In each of the many green strips the selection of plants is different, there are no two identical forest plantations here, because all of them are grown for observation of botanical experiments that last for decades. Trees brought from the Far Eastern regions of the country, Africa and North America have been acclimatized here. From a bird’s-eye view, the forest belts resemble a bizarre green labyrinth surrounding areas of fields and meadows with blue-eyed lakes.

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Half a century after the first saplings were planted, more than 100 species of birds have settled in the dense crowns of the grown-up trees. The Shipovy forest and Khrenovskiy boron are home to 30 species of mammals: from roe deer, wild boars and martens to hedgehogs and ferrets. In the steppe live voles and hares, weasels and chanterelles. Zoologists discovered a large colony of marmots in the Kamennaya Steppe, which had taken a fancy to the slopes of an ancient Scythian mound. Ondatras, ducks and herons have settled in water bodies.

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Climate

The Stone Steppe is located in the zone of temperate continental climate. In summer it is hot here, droughts are not uncommon. Heavy downpours with thunderstorms and large hail occur. Spring and autumn early frosts are typical for the region. Winters are snowy and moderately cold. Sometimes air masses breaking through from the south cause thaws. In January, the temperature usually fluctuates within -12 … -6 ° C frost, but it happens that the Arctic cyclones briefly lower the air temperature to -20 … -18 ° C.

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According to the weather station “Kamennaya Steppe”, the vagaries of the local weather were especially pronounced in 2014. June that year was the rainiest for 50 years of observations, and July was the driest for the last 120 years. Only 6 mm of precipitation fell during the entire month. In August 2014 in Talovsky district there was an abnormal heat wave – the air temperature rose to +37 ° C, although usually the average July and August here rarely exceed +22 ° C.

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Excursions in the reserve “Kamennaya Steppe”

The history of the large-scale transformation of the Kamennaya Steppe is familiarized by the museum operating at the 2nd site of the V. V. Dokuchaev Institute. V. V. Dokuchaev Institute – the oldest agricultural research institution in Russia. The exposition is located in a brick building with an attic, built in the late XIX century for the needs of the expedition. The exhibits in the first hall tell about the scientific activity of Professor Dokuchaev and his large-scale plans to transform the mutilated steppe. Other museum expositions tell about key stages of long-term restoration works. The guide’s story is illustrated by masterfully made three-dimensional dioramas of landscapes and paintings by Voronezh artists. In the attic, where the staff of the Dokuchaev expedition once lived, the interior of the room with household items, scientific books, laboratory instruments is presented.

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In the lobby of the museum hanging maps of the reserve with schemes of excursion routes. From here tourist trips to the landscape natural complex in the area of Sukhoprudnaya gully, to the necklace of lakes hiding under the canopy of trees, to the Dokuchaev ponds begin. A whole cascade of man-made ponds has been created in Khorolskaya gully, which occupies 20 hectares, the first of them was arranged in 1893. The slopes of the gully are covered with picturesque communities of steppe grasses and flowers. Walks to the oak woods of the age-old Shipov forest and to the Khrenovskiy boron will leave vivid impressions.

Practical information

Entry/entry to the territory of the Kamennaya Steppe is free, but there are strict rules of movement here, only certain roads are open for third-party vehicles. Information banners at the entrance familiarize you with the rules of visiting the reserve and the scheme of travel. Even local residents are not allowed to swim and fish in many water bodies. Hunting, cutting trees and building houses are prohibited. It is strictly forbidden to organize picnics, light fires and drive on virgin land, disturbing the soil cover. It is also forbidden to bring pets here. The territory is discreetly monitored from the air by mini-drones with video cameras. Violators of the reserve regime are stopped by patrols, the administrative fine can be up to 5000 rubles.

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The best way to get acquainted with the Stone Steppe is to join a one-day bus tour departing from Voronezh. Such trips are organized by the tour bureau of the regional center. The cost is from 850 rubles per person. Individual tours in a guide’s car are paid by agreement.

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You can fish and swim in the ponds of the villages Mihinsky and Osinovy, they are located just beyond the southern border of the reserve. To the west of the reserve are the settlements of Voznesensky and Pokrovsky, on their territory there are three large ponds rich in fish. There are also improvised beaches on the shores of these lakes.

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Where to eat

In the western part of the territory of the reserve “Kamennaya Steppe” the road passes through the village of Vysokiy. Here you can have a snack in the cafe “Triumph”, the institution is open from 08:00 to 20:00.

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In the southeastern part of the reserve, in the 2nd settlement of the Dokuchaev Institute, near the museum, there is a small supermarket “Dubrava”, where you can buy edibles. The store’s opening hours are 09:00-23:00.

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How to get there

The nearest railway station to the “Kamennaya Steppe” reserve is in the village of Talovaya, 12 km to the north. Moscow – Adler, Moscow – Anapa, St. Petersburg – Adler and other trains stop here. You can find a train on the portal Tutu.ru.

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The bus station in Talova is located on the square near the railway station. From here to the settlements of Verkhny, 2nd section of the V. V. Dokuchaev Institute. V. V. Dokuchaev, Verkhneozersky, as well as to other settlements located near the protected area, run shuttle buses.

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It is more convenient for tourists to get to Kamennaya Steppe from Voronezh. From the Central bus station of the city to Talova can be reached by buses traveling through Bobrov or through Anna. The distance on different highways is about the same, about 160 km, travel time – 3 h. 20 min. 20 min. The cost of tickets – from 500 rubles.

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Motorists should leave Voronezh to the south, on the highway M4. Behind the village of Karandeyevka do not miss the left turn to Bobrov. Then the straight road will lead you to Talovaya from the west, the entrance is on Sovetskaya Street. The total distance along this route will be 159 km, the journey will take about 2 hours.

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You can choose another route, leaving Voronezh to the east on the regional highway P193. The way will lie through Nikolskoye, Panino, Toida, Anna, Mokhovoye. The distance will be 161 km, you will enter Talovoye from the north, along Chapaeva Street. Budennogo Avenue leads to the road to the State Reserve “Kamennaya Steppe”.

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