Important forests of the Carpathians will be better protected: President signed a decree to expand Carpathian Biosphere Reserve by 17.000 hectares
06.01.2022

On the 3d of January, the President of Ukraine signed a decree to expand the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve to 17.9 thousand hectares transferred from state-owned forestry enterprises.

The Support to Nature Protected Areas in Ukraine Project played an important role in this achievement. Within the SNPA project a technical and scientific justification as the basis for the expansion was developed. Moreover, funds for research and the necessary documentation were provided for large parts of this important work.

Due to such expansion, traces of the most valuable primeval and old-growth forests in this part of the Carpathians will be preserved. In addition to preserving the nature, the needs of local communities were also considered. Part of the added territories is managed forests. Firewood for local residents will be provided from here.

“You can’t create a new protected area or expand existing one without thinking about the needs of the people who live nearby. We included the necessary areas of secondary forests, so the residents could receive firewood from the reserve”- said Bogdan Prots, a Specialist in Environmental Protection of the Project.

What is special about the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve?

  • This is one of the largest protected areas in Ukraine with an area of 66,307.8 hectares after the added lands (9,500 hectares of a total area were in common use, and now were transferred into permanent)
  • The world’s largest solid massive of beech virgin forest is preserved here
  • It is neighboring the highest peak of Ukraine (Mount Hoverla, 2061 m) and the geographical center of Europe is situated here
  • The reserve presents all the landscapes and biological diversity of the Ukrainian Carpathians: from the foothills to the subalpine and alpine meadows
  • Legendary Blyznytsi, alpine lakes, Narcissus Valley, the largest karst cave in the Ukrainian Carpathians Druzhba are among the most interesting sights of the reserve.

 

The President also signed a decree to include 131 hectares of state-owned land in the Vyzhnytskyi National Nature Park which is one of the 8 areas supported by the SNPA Project.

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