Oleshky is the largest desert in Europe and it’s in an unusual place seeing as Ukraine is well-known for its rich agricultural land. In the 19th century, this area in the Kherson region was overused by sheep farmers and the grass gave way to sand which has reigned ever since. To stop the spreading desertification, the largest tree planting operation in history was carried out in the 20th century around the sand’s borders – 100,000 hectares of new trees! Oleshky is popular with visitors but some parts are considered no-go – landmines were left behind in certain areas during military exercises in the Soviet era.
As any desert, the Oleshky Sands have their own oases, dried up, wet, and mineral lakes, and 5 m high sand dunes covered with grass and bushes. Sandstorms are known to occur in these regions. In order to prevent the whole Black Sea region from turning into one big desert, in the 20th century, artificial forests were planted around the sands. Today, spreading over a territory of 100,000 hectares, these forests are one of the largest artificial forests in the world.
The sands are thought to be formed during the most recent ice age by aeolian processes accumulating and forming cliffs of lower parts of nearby river Dnieper. It is speculated that the number of vegetation was reduced by herds of sheep who were introduced there by Eduard von Falz-Fein who used the sands, formerly populated by weeds, as a pasture.
Picture Credit : Google