Experts of International charitable organization “Environment-People-Law” (EPL) made a study of protected areas affected by military actions in eastern Ukraine. Currently there are 33 of such areas in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. “It is easy to imagine a forest on fire or shell-holes in protected steppes. However, negative impacts caused by war to the protected areas of eastern Ukraine are much more numerous and they are varied, says the Executive director of EPL Olena Kravchenko. – Negative consequences of the war affect even some of those territories that are located far away from the ATO zone.”
“EPL collected information on all detected consequences of the war for protected areas and posted them on the interactive map https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zbSMscEgA8nQ.k3-ikECY7sf0. All negative impacts of military actions in protected areas environmentalists divided into seven major groups, – mentioned EPL environmentalist Oleksiy Vasyliuk.”
- The most notable impact is caused by fires that according to EPL covered 17% of forests and 24% of steppes in the ATO zone. Among them a number of protected areas were damaged by fire: natural reserves “Provalskyi steppe”, “Triokhizbenskyi steppe”, the regional landscape park “Donetskyi kriazh” and “Zuyivskyi”, the national natural park “Sviati hory”, wildlife reserves “Alioshkin buhor”, “Balka Plos’ka”, “Bilorichenskyi”, “Volnuhynskyi”, “Yeremusovyi skhyl”, “Znamianskyi yar”, “Naholnyi kriazh”, “Naholchanskyi”, “Novozvanivskyi”, “Obushok”, “Pishchanyi”, “Urochyshche Murzyne”, “Balka Skeleva”.
- Some protected areas are directly damaged by shelling: the national natural park ‘Sviati hory”, branches of the Ukrainian steppe reserve “Kalmiuske” and “Kreydiana flora”, regional landscape parks “Donetskyi kriazh” and “Slavianskyi kurort”, wildlife reserves “Luhanskyi”, “Prystenske”, “Kreydiane”, “Bilohorivskyi”, “Perevalskyi”.
- In the territory of a number of protected areas there have been constructed trenches and other fortifications (including in the natural reserve “Kreydiana flora” and in the regional landscape park “Kramatorskyi” that now are in the liberated territory). Moreover, fortifications have been constructed far outside of the ATO zone – in Kharkiv region, in the national natural park “Dvorichanskyi” located on the border with Russia.
- There is information about burials of soldiers killed in the battles for Savur-Mohyla in the territory of the regional landscape “Donetskyi kriazh”. Because of complicated soil conditions and landscapes, the burials are not deep and products of the bodies decomposition can later penetrate into local rivers.
- Outside the ATO zone, in the territory of the regional landscape park “Iziumska luka” in Kharkiv region as well as in the territory of the protected zone of the national natural park “Sviati hory” unknown persons massively log forest explaining that this is wood for “needs of the ATO”.
- Using the lack of real control in the territory of certain protected areas, some unauthorized activities were started there. Such activities were recorded in the regional landscape park “Kramatorskyi” (100 ha of lands were ploughed without authorization), in the regional landscape park “Iziumska luka” hunting towers were installed and hunting started.
- The war caused serious consequences for protected areas that had administrations. In Luhansk natural reserve the central administration was ruined, in the national natural parks “Meotyda”, natural reserves “Provalskyi steppe” and “Khomutovskyi steppe” administrations were occupied by terrorists, in the regional landscape parks “Donetskyi kriazh”, “Zuyivskyi” and “Kleban-Byk” they stopped functioning. Natural reserves lost their staff, research results, documents and archives.
New research, messages from the region and analysis of new pictures from the space show the increase in the list of affected protected areas, – comments EPL environmentalist Alla Vohtsykhovska. – However, no actions of the state for protection of valuable lands, at least in liberated lands, have been reported while here the damage caused to the state through ruining territories is the biggest.”
“We detected that in the liberated lands unauthorized forest logging takes place in the national park “Sviati hory” and the regional landscape park “Iziumska luka”. Also, in the north of Kharkiv region in the national park “Dvorichanskyi”, fortifications are being built, – adds EPL environmentalist Oleksiy Vasyliuk. The state neither organized evacuation of natural reserves that are occupied nor ensured employment of their staff who worked all their lives in natural reserves and are devoted to environmental protection and the country.”
Earlier EPL calculated that the damage as a result of fires caused by shelling of the territory of the national natural park “Sviati hory” and the regional landscape park “Donetskyi kriazh” is worth 14 milliard of UAH.
For further information please contact:
Olena Kravchenko, EPL Executive director
Email: okravchenko@epl.org.ua, tel.: (032) 225 – 76 – 82
Oleksiy Vasyliuk, EPL environmentalist
Email: vasyliuk@gmail.com, tel.: (097) 100 – 04 -73
Alla Voytsykhovska, EPL environmentalist
Email: alla.voytsyhovska@gmail.com, tel.: (032) 225 – 76 – 82
