Ukraine will benefit socially, environmentally, and economically by reviving the Great Meadow instead of restoring the destroyed Kakhovka reservoir and hydroelectric power plant, which was damaged by the Russians. This conviction comes from experts of the "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group," who have presented compelling arguments in their published comprehensive study titled "Why We Need to Revive the Great Meadow?"
The Great Meadow is a historical name for a vast area of floodplains that once existed on the left bank of the Dnieper River (between the Dnieper and its left tributary, the Konka River), and stretched in a wide strip along the right bank from the mouth of the Middle Khortytsia River. These floodplains, overgrown with deciduous forest, reeds, and cattails, covered an area of more than 400 square kilometers. This entire region belonged to the Zaporizhian Sich, and the Great Meadow was often synonymous with all of Zaporizhia.
During his travels in Lower Dnieper region and the then Great Meadow, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus was amazed by the fabulous wooded land, which he called Gilea, full of "a variety of trees." From the memories of the locals, it is known that in the Great Meadow, "mighty trees grew, and it was impossible to break through the wild thickets and underbrush, whether on horseback or on foot."
The Great Meadow was flooded by the waters of the Kakhovka reservoir between 1955 and 1957, except for some sections.
"The Great Meadow is one of the most important natural and historical landscapes of Ukraine. This area was submerged by the waters of the Kakhovka reservoir between 1955 and 1958, despite the fact that it contains numerous monuments of the Zaporizhzhia Sich and was home to a variety of rare animals and plants. For 70 years, the Great Meadow was lost to nature, science, and Ukrainian identity. However, on June 6, 2023, due to the explosion of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant's dam by Russian forces, the reservoir ceased to exist within a few weeks, placing Ukraine at a crossroads. Now, a historic decision needs to be made," the scientists believe.
According to their opinion, the idea of reviving the Great Meadow as a natural territory is not only timely but also ecologically justified.
