Unguri - Holosnita. 14/09/05; Soroca, Ocnita, 15,553 ha; 48°17'N 028°03'E. Landscape Reserve, Nature Monument. High rocky, crumbling-sloughing slopes and narrow flood-land of the Dniester River's left bank, in northeastern Moldova near the border with Ukraine. The Dniester includes wide, shallow segments here with little islands, small rivers and short creeks feeding the stream and forming steep canyons. Fluvial forests are formed by poplar associations with an admixture of willows, ash and elm, with riparian willow formations. The most numerous waterfowl and waders during forage and seasonal migrations are ducks, e.g. Anas platyrhynchos, A.querquedula, and A. strepera, which also predominate amongst wintering birds. Agriculture provides the main sources of economic life, supplemented by livestock farming and traditional fishing, which is losing its economic value as fish resources became scarce as a result of strong variations of discharge levels from the Novodnestrovsk hydropower station. There are more than sixty sites of cultural, geological, paleontological and archeological interest in the area, along with a settlement of Old Believers in the village of Pocrovca. The BIOTOCA Ecological Society in Chisinau was helpful in the preparation for this site designation. Ramsar site no. 1500. Most recent RIS information: 2005.

Last publication date: 14-09-2005