History

Creating a protected area in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta began in the 1960s. Scientists of the Institute of Hydrobiology (Kyiv) and the Institute of Zoology and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine proposed the creation of a zoological reserve in the Danube Delta.  In 1964 an interagency meeting on integrated use of the natural resources of the Danube Delta was held under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.  It was recommended to create a reserve in the Ukrainian part of the Danube Delta and in 1967 the Council of Ministers of the USSR established a protected area regime with a natural monument of national importance. It includes a wetlands strip of land along the coastal Black Sea with a width of 1 km inland (of 3 hectares) and odnokilometrova band marine waters.

In 1973-1978 the Council of Ministers of the USSR created the Danube branch of the Black Sea State Reserve in the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and then expanded the protected area to 14,851 hectares. The Danube Delta decided to include Ramsar because of its Waterfowl location.

The Danube Biosphere Reserve was recognized by the President of Ukraine on  August 10, 1998 at the total area of ​​46,402.9 hectares.

In 2004, an area of ​​land was transferred to the DBR for permanent use, which increased its size by 1,295 hectares as well as the total area being expanded by 3850 hectares. According to these decrees, as well as a few other land management projects that have come up, the total area of ​​the DBR is now 50,252.9 hectares. The DBR territory now automatically includes all neoplasms such as islands, spits, etc.