The Donetsk Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (DBG) is one of the largest gardens of Europe. Its total area is 203 hectares. It became a man-made green treasury of industrial Donbass. In 1981 it was confirmed as a memorial of landscape gardening art, and in 1992 the Garden was referred to the objects of natural-reserved fund of Ukraine of nation-wide value. In DBG there has been developed a new direction of modern science - industrial botany which studies interrelation of a green plant with the industrial environment.

The major aspects of complex researches of DBG are: introduction and working out of scientific bases of use of plants for environment optimization in industrial regions; studying of questions of protection and restoration of a genofund of natural flora of the southeast of Ukraine; carrying out of population-genetic researches of the basic forest-formatting sorts of Ukraine; research of the mechanism of resistance of plants and their groupings to actions of contaminates; studying of ecological conditions and working out of effective methods of phytorecultivation and gardening of technogenic lands.

The Donetsk Botanical Garden is the first botanical garden created for environmental problem solution of industrial region, therefore its collections get world value as they have no analogues neither in Ukraine, nor beyond its borders. The botanical garden is the full member of the Council of botanical gardens and dendroparks of Ukraine and the International association of botanical gardens of the world. For theoretical and practical finishing in the field of industrial botany the botanical garden was awarded the Silver medal of the Program of the United Nations on preservation of the environment (UNEP). Results of scientific researches were highly appreciated and noted by awards of Presidiums of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine of M.H. Kholodnyi (E.M. Kondratiuk, V.P. Tarabrin, 1978; R.I. Burda, 1994) and the award of L.P. Symyrenko (I.P. Hornytska, 2001). The Garden has received the award "Gold Scythian" for preservation and revival of the nature of Donbass.

Principal achievements and developments:
- A unique collection stock of living plants (over 9 thousand species, varieties, forms and cultivars) of the international level has been created in conditions of arid steppe and industrial pollution, including a collection and displays of tropical and subtropical plants, which enjoy the National Asset status.
- Over 50 plant varieties resistant to hard steppe conditions have been produced.
- A methodology and respective technologies have been developed for phytooptimization of industrial environment and amelioration of industrially polluted and agricultural lands.
- Physiological, biochemical, populational-genetics mechanisms of plant tolerance to human impacts have been studied.
- The composition and structure of the natural flora and vegetation of Ukrainian South-East have been determined, processes of their anthropogenic transformation studied, scientific principles of plant-diversity preservation in industrial regions and formation of a regional ecological network developed.
- A technique for controllable enforced complete restoration of steppe phytocenoses has been worked out; simulative models of steppes that are the national asset of Ukraine have been developed on its basis.

Research results of Donetsk Botanical Garden have been implemented in the following applied developments:
- a technology for phyto-reclamation of the lands degraded by industry;
- a technology for amelioration of forage areas;
- a technology for enforced restoration of steppe vegetation;
- substantiation study for setting up a regional ecological network;
- population-genetics method for forming conifer plantations;
- plant indication and monitoring of industrial air and biological pollution;
- a technology for the accelerated propagation of plants.

The guests will be able to see there perfect collections of lilac, tropic plants, vulnerary plants. The entrance ticket costs 5hryvnya for the whole territory and plus 10 hryvnya if you want an excursion for visiting the plant galleries.
Excursions are available Monday to Thursday from 8 to 14, Sunday from 8 to 12.
The garden will be fully reconstructed by the European Football Championship. The Donetsk Regional Council allocated UAH 3 million for that purpose.
Adress: 110 Illicha Avenue, Donetsk, 83059
Phone/fax: 8(0622)941280
E-mail: herb@herb.dn.ua,
Site: www.dbs.dn.ua

How to get there: take trolleybus number 11 or Marshrutka number 11a from Lenin Square till the stop "Botanical Garden".