We continue analyzing the losses of natural reserve fund of Ukraine. Next is Kyiv region. Here we have identified the largest number of cases of cancellation of the protected status of the areas with the aim to enable tree cutting.
To preserve the flora and fauna in Kyiv region, 194 sites and areas of natural reserve fund (NRF) have been created covering the total area of 112,430.6147 hectares. But in the past the region had far more protected areas.
To find information on the lost protected areas, we appealed to the State Archive of Kyiv region. After receiving copies of all decisions on the establishment of protected areas in Kyiv region in the period since 1968, we compared them with the current list of protected areas released by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine in 2016.
Results of the analysis are as follows. The protected status of majority of forest areas has been canceled for the purpose of logging. Some protected areas lost their status after their territories had undergone clear-cutting. Descriptions of the cancelled natural reserves make it obvious that the reserves were created with the aim to conduct tree cutting in the future. As a proof can serve the indication that protected status is given to highly productive trees with indicated rates of their productivity.
When analyzing the documentation we have found information on 50 territories and objects of nature reserve fund of national and local importance that are not present in the current list of reserved areas of the region. The total area of lost protected objects is 1411.62 hectares, which is 1.25% of the total area of all protected areas created in the region.
All canceled objects are old forests or single trees. The majority of single trees were cut because of their death or serious physical injury.
Previous publications of the cycle:
Volyn region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2409-lost-sites-and-areas-of-nature-and-reserve-fund-part-1-volyn-region
Ivano-Frankivsk region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2360-lost-objects-in-the-territory-of-protected-areas-part-2-ivano-frankivsk-region
Chernivtsi region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2411-lost-sites-and-areas-of-nature-and-reserve-fund-part-1-volyn-region-2
Khmelnytsk region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2401-lost-sites-and-territories-of-nature-and-reserve-fund-part-4-khmelnytsk-region
Mykolayiv region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2489-lost-objects-of-natural-reserve-fund-1972-2016-part-5-mykolaiv-region
Sumy region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2505-lost-objects-and-territories-of-nature-reserve-fund-part-6-sumy-region
Rivne region: http://epl.org.ua/events/2523-vtracheni-ob-iekty-ta-terytorii-pryrodno-zapovidnoho-fondu-chastyna-7-rivnenska-oblast
Zhytomyr region: http://epl.org.ua/en/events/2643-lost-objects-and-areas-of-natural-reserve-fund-1967-2016-part-8-zhytomyr-region
Contact details:
Oleksiy Vasyliuk, EPL environmentalist
Oleksandr Oskirko, EPL volunteer
Email: office@epl.org.ua; vasyliuk@gmail.com
tel.: (032) 225 – 76 – 82; 097 – 1000 – 473
