Urochyshche “Spasivs’ke” (“Spasivske” Isolated Terrain)

Forest nature conservation area of local importance.

Rivne Oblast, Zdovbytsia Territorial Community (Hromada), northwestward of the Kunyn Village.

50.45976, 26.11928

30,5 km

“Spasivske” Isolated Terrain was created by the Decision of the Rivne Regional State Administration No.343 dated November 22, 1983. It is located on the territory of Spasiv Village Council, the State Enterprise “Ostroh Forestry” (Zdolbuniv Forestry) is the land user.

These are picturesque hills of the Volhynia Upland, composed mainly of Neogene sands, sometimes with layers of limestone and the local distribution of quaternary forest-like loams, overgrown with mixed forest species. 80-90-year-old pines and larch, younger oaks and Carpinus betulus (i.e. the European or common hornbeams) prevail in the canopy. Birch, elm, maple, Acer platanoides (commonly known as the Norway maple), Acer pseudoplatanus (known as the sycamore), and Prunus avium (commonly called wild cherry) are less common.  Euonymus europaeus (i.e. European spindle) and Euonymus verrucosus, Sambucus nigra (i.e. black or European elder), and Corylus avellana (i.e. the common hazel) grow in the understorey. The plants include Aegopodium podagraria (commonly called ground elder), Lamium galeobdolon (commonly known as yellow archangel or artillery plant), Carex sylvatica, Geum urbanum (also known as wood avens, herb Bennet, colewort and St. Benedict’s herb), Stachys sylvatica (commonly known as hedge woundwort or whitespot), Milium effusum (i.e. the American milletgrass or wood millet), Luzula pilosa (species of a flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae with the common name hairy wood-rush), pulmonaria obscura (common names unspotted lungwort or Suffolk lungwort), Anemone hepatica (syn. Hepatica nobilis, also the common hepatica, liverwort, or kidneywort), Circaea lutetiana (known as broad-leaved enchanter’s nightshade). There are also big spots of Asarum europaeum (commonly known as asarabacca or European wild ginger), Dryopteris filix-mas (i.e. the male fern), Athyrium filix-femina (i.e. the lady fern or common lady-fern), Maianthemum bifolium (false lily of the valley or May lily), Oxalis acetosella (i.e. the wood sorrel or common wood sorrel), and Rabelera holostea (known as greater stitchwort, greater starwort, and addersmeat). The rare and uncommon species include the neottia nidus-avis, also known as the bird’s-nest orchid (listed in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, an official national red list of the threatened animals, plants and fungi that are protected by the law in Ukraine), Actaea spicata (the baneberry or herb Christopher), Ribes uva-crispa (known as gooseberry or European gooseberry), Daphne mezereum (commonly known as mezereum), Sanicula europaea (the sanicle or wood sanicle), and Dryopteris dilatata (the broad buckler-fern).

Source: Hryshchenko, Yu. M. (2008). Pryrodno-zapovidnyi fond Rivnenskoi oblasti [Nature Reserve Fund of Rivne Oblast] Volynski Oberehy, Rivne (in Ukrainian).