June 5, 2014, Nova Kakhovka — In honor of World Environment Day, which is celebrated on the 5th of June every year, a special event “Let’s Make the Dnipro Banks Clean” was held.

Members of the “MAMA-86-Nova Kakhovka” City Environmental NGO Taisa Kozak, Valentina Kol’tsova, Margaryta Byehtyeryeva, Irina Kucherenko, Aliona Porub, Vitaliy Kozak, together with the Agricultural College students (group of OE 91/13) — 20 people in total — actively participated in the action.

In particular, the activists examined water from three streams that are used for drinking needs, and selected samples for laboratory analysis. College students cleaned up the 300-meter-long Dnipro bank line and collected 10 large bags of garbage. After this action the students together with NGO members studied water samples of the Dnipro River and the creek that flows into it, on the levels of dissolved oxygen, pH and nitrates. All the examined parameters met the sanitary requirements except for the level of dissolved oxygen in the Dnipro water, which was 3 mg/dm3 (the normal rate is 4.6 mg/dm3).

Activists were also able to enjoy a visit to the Fantastic Oakwood Family Leisure Center thanks to the Center’s owner invitation. In the mid-1990s, a local businessman, sculptor & wood carver Michael Nawrockiy organized a leisure center in the Central Park with a mini zoo, smart gardens, streams and ponds. They are decorated with 150 wooden sculptures of fairytale characters by M. Nawrockiy. There are moufflons, peacocks, owls, wild geese and many other animals in the zoo.