Shatsk Lakes
- Country:Ukraine
- Site number:775
- Area:32,850 ha
- Designation date:28-02-1997
- Coordinates:51°30'N 23°51'E
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Overview
Shatsk Lakes, bordering both Poland and Belarus, is the largest Ukrainian lake complex, with 23 lakes separated by peat bogs, meadows and forests. The Site is one of the largest and best preserved wetland in the Polissia region, and is very important for waterbirds, hosting approximately 75 different species and 41,000 individuals, which use the lakes as stopovers during their migration for feeding and moulting. Many of these species are nationally or internationally threatened, such as the ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) and great snipe (Gallinago media), and the globally vulnerable aquatic warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) and lesser white fronted goose (Anser erythropus). The wetland is also important for other vertebrates, of which 365 species have been recorded, and for plants, with a total of 825 species. It supports 22 nationally threatened plant species, most of them associated with bogs. Human practices include forestry, fishing, recreation, and agriculture including livestock grazing and haymaking. Hunting is forbidden in the area. The main threats to the Site include the decrease in rainwater inputs during recent years, and the overgrowing of shrubs in the peat bogs.
Administrative region:
Shatsk District, Volynska Region
- Global international designation:
- UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
- National legal designation:
- National Nature Park - Shatsk National Nature park
- Last publication date:26-08-2020