Objects of Ukrainian natural reserve fund: history, modern state, problems and prospects of development

 

2. The role and purposes of Ukrainian reserved fund.

Alliance of various tourism forms with recreation ways traditional for Ukraine (sanitary and resort healing, educative environmental and area study tourism, sport water, walking, and mountain trips) and economic forms (gathering of herbs, berries, mushrooms, fish, and game) in buffer zones and area of environmental system restoration (or regulated business) at natural reserve territories can be highly effective for nature protection and social and economic aspects.

The main roles of nature preserves in the territory of Ukraine’s entailed nature fund are:

• Trips by marked environmental paths with short-term rest (setting of tents and bonfire in special prepared places) in zones of regulated and stationery recreation – Carpathian national park and Svyatogorskiy Holy Mountains national park;
• scientific and study tourism – Carpathian and Yavoriv national parks;
• walking sport and healing tourism – Vyzhnitskiy and Uzhanskiy national parks;
• skiing trips and walks (including mountain skiing) – Vyzhnitskiy national park, Skolivski Beskidy national park;
• bike tourism (walks and trips) – Sinevir and Uzhanskiy national parks;
• horse tourism (walks and trips) – Sinevir and Shatskiy national parks;
• water tourism – going down mountain river at air rafts, boats, catamarans (rafting) – Vyzhnitskiy national park, yacht trip, water skiing, wind surfing, boat trips – Shatskiy national park;
• excursions to cavern caves (speleotourism) – Vyzhnitskiy national park;
• amateur hunting (sport tourism) – Sinevir national park and Desna-Starogutskiy national park;
• scuba diving, excursions to underwater caves and grottos (underwater tourism, diving) – Azovo-Sivash national park;
• amateur and sport fishing – Shatskiy and Azovo-Sivash national parks;
• air balloon trips (ballooning), hang-gliders (hang-gliding) – Sinevir and Podilski Tovtry national parks;
• rock-climbing (alpinism) – Vyzhnitskiy national park;
• extreme tourism (tied rope jumps) – Podilski Tovtry and Skolivski Beskidy national parks.

Look the list of the Ukrainian reserve fund at the Table 1.

The main purposes of the preservation fund:

• development of legislative and regulatory framework in the field of nature conservation, taking into account international obligations;
• identification and conservation or reservation for the future inclusion in the NRF(natural reserve fund) areas that require protection;
• ensuring the conservation of landscape and biological diversity within the borders of NRF, especially rare, endangered plants and species of animals, plant communities and different types of natural ecosystems through the implementation of the proper management using the best world standards and practices in the environmental field;
• Participation in the formation of the single Ukrainian ecological network;
• maintenance of the general ecological balance and assistance for the steady development of regions and government in general;
• Promoting the participation of the NRF institutions in ensuring sustainable regional development through cooperation with the governmental institutions, users and owners of land, public involvement in the management of territories and objects of the NRF, the provision of recreational services and promotion of local employment;
• Accomplishment of the environmental educational, enlightenment and propagandistic activity with the purpose of emphasizing of the conservation affaire prestige, upbringing of the respectful attitude to the nature, nature conservation territories and love to the Motherland;
• Regulation of economic, recreational and scientific activities in order to preserve natural landscapes, flora and fauna, historical and cultural monuments of the area;
• Development and application of scientific methods for conservation of landscape in terms of economic and recreational use;
• Implementation of environmentally save technologies in agricultural manufacturing;
• Creation of favorable conditions for organized tourism and rest;
• Regulation of the number of tourists within the recreational load.

 

3.  Examples of Ukrainian natural reserved fund

3.1 Ukrainian biosphere reserves

The world list of biosphere reserves includes 4 objects in Ukraine: biosphere reserves Askania-Nova, Chernomorskiy (Black Sea), Dunayskiy (Danube), Carpathian.                                                                                                                         Askania-Nova biosphere reserve (Total area – 33,307.6 ha.)

Askania-Nova was made into a reserve back in 1888. In 1898, it was officially registered as a nature reserve. In 1921 the first state steppe reserve was established at this site. In 1983 it received the status of a biological reserve. In 1985, UNESCO recognized it with a special certificate confirming its inclusion in the global network of biological reserves. It is geographically located on a part of the Black Sea-Azov Sea steppe area in the southern steppe sub-zone of the steppe zone. The natural reserve provides for the conservation of Europe’s only of the fescue and feather-grass steppe area, which is dominated by turf vegetation. Askania-Nova hosts one bush association and three steppe associations that were registered in the Green Book of Ukraine. It also has 30 species of local flora, four species of microbiota and 32 species of fauna that are listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. From the European Red List, Askania-Nova is home to 12 species of local flora and 8 species of local fauna; while the species list compiled in pursuance of the Bern Convention includes 67 species of local fauna and two species of local flora.

E-mail: bp_askania-nova@chap.hs.ukrtel.net

Danube biosphere reserve

Odessa region, Kiliya district. (Total area – 46,402.9 ha)

The Danube biosphere reserve was established in accordance with a Decree issued by the President of Ukraine on August 10, 1998. On December 9, 1998 UNESCO included the reserve in its global network of biosphere reserves. The latter resolution also provided for the establishment of the Romanian-Ukrainian Danube Delta biosphere reserve. In regards to its physical and geographic location, the territory of the Danube biosphere reserve forms a part of the Black Sea middle-steppe district of the middle-steppe sub-zone of the larger steppe zone. The natural reserve was established to protect delta ecosystems and water-swamp land that gained national and international significance. It houses nine local plant formations from the Green Book of Ukraine. It has eight species of local flora and 61 species of local fauna from the Red Book of Ukraine. The property also contains 15 species of local fauna registered on international red lists.

E-mail: reserve@odtel.net

Carpathian biosphere reserve

Zakarpatye region, Rakhov, Tyachev, Khust, and Vinogradov districts. Total area – 57,880 ha.The Carpathian natural reserve was founded in 1993 and initially covered an area of 38,930 ha. In 1997, its territory was increased by 24,315 ha.   In 1992, UNESCO issued a special certificate to include the Carpathian reserve in the global network of biosphere reserves. In 1998, the Council of Europe awarded the reserve the European Diploma. According to physical and geographic zoning, the territory of the reserve forms a part of Carpathian-Ukrainian mountain-and-forest district of the Carpathian mountain landscape region. Vegetation on the natural reserve generally represents the European broadleaf-forest district of the Central European province that constitutes a part of the East-Carpathian mountain sub-province. The Carpathian biological reserve includes 14 local formations, one sub-formation, and two association groups that embrace 21 forest associations, two bush associations, 13 meadow associations, two swamp and one steppe associations from the Green Book of Ukraine. From the Red Book of Ukraine, it has 92 species of local flora and microbiota, and 76 species of local fauna. From the European Red List, the property contains five species of local flora and 23 species of local fauna while the species list compiled in accordance with the Bern Convention includes 181 species of local fauna.

E-mail: cbr@rakhiv.ukrtel.net; Website: http://cbr.nature.org.ua

The Black Sea biosphere reserve

Kherson region, Golaya Pristan district. Total area – 89,129 ha.                                                                     

The Black Sea natural reserve was established in 1927 and currently is maintained by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In 1985, UNESCO provided it with the status of biosphere reserve. In 1998, the reserve’s territory was increased by 13,461 ha. As to its physical and geographic location, the territory of the reserve forms a part of the Black Sea and the Azov southern-steppe district of the southern-steppe sub-zone of the steppe zone. The natural reserve was established to protect nesting and migrant birds as well as landscape formed by the Black Sea fescue-and-wormwood steppes and saline lands. It has 11 local steppe and forest associations that constitute three formations from the Green Book of Ukraine. It is also home to 24 species of local flora and 69 species of local fauna from the Red Book of Ukraine. From the European Red List, the territory includes 17 species of local flora; and seven species of local flora and 12 species of local fauna from global red lists.

E-mail: zapovidnyk@selena.kherson.ua

3.2 Ukrainian nature reserves (wildlife preservation)

Kazantip nature reserve       

Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Leninskiy district. Total area – 405.1 ha. Year founded – 1998.         

According to its physical and geographic zoning, the territory of the reserve is on a part of Crimean steppe district embraced by the Southern steppe sub-zone of the steppe zone. The natural reserve hosts virgin feather-grass pteridophytic and motley-grass steppes, bushy hydrophilic groupings, halophytic phytocenosises of coastal strip, and algae bushes. The reserve conserves 389 species of vascular plants. It has 18 species of local flora and 17 species of local fauna from the Red Book of Ukraine. It also has five species of local flora and 16 species of local fauna that are on international red lists.

Kanev nature reserve

Cherkassy region, Kanev district. Total area – 2,027 ha. Year founded – 1923.

In 1986, the territory of the reserve was increased by 1,014.3 ha to its present size. According to the physical and geographic zone, the reserve borders on both Dnestr-Dnepr and the Left-Bank Dnepr forest-steppe districts of the forest-steppe zone. The natural reserve has hornbeam, oak-and-hornbeam, oak and osier-poplar forests, bushes, psammophyte and meadow plants. The Green Book of Ukraine includes 2 forest associations and photosynthesis of one steppe formation that are located in the Kanev reserve. The Red Book of Ukraine contains data on 29 species of local flora, 4 species of mycobiota, and 74 species of local fauna on the territory. From international red lists of the most endangered species, 5 species of local flora and 13 species of local fauna are also here.

E-mail: reserve@aquila.freenet.kiev.ua

Karadag nature reserve

Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Feodosia district. Total area – 2,874.2 ha. Year founded - 1979.

According to the physical and geographic zone, the territory of the reserve is a part of the Crimean mountain-forest district of the Crimean mountain region.

The reserve is notable because it has the only Jurassic massif in Europe, which bears typical characteristics of volcanic activity and is rich in vast mineralogical heritage including crystal, amethyst, cornelian, agate, jasper and opal. Its vegetation is dominated by eastern hornbeam and lanuginous oak forests, lanuginous-oak, pistachio-tree, rocky oak forests, rocky oak and ash-tree forests as well as motley-grass feather-grass and gramineous steppes. The Green Book of Ukraine contains 3 local associations of 3 forest formations, 15 associations of 5 steppe formations, and 2 associations of tomillares that are located on the Karadag reserve. On the territory, there are also 73 species of local flora and 127 species of local fauna that are registered in the Red Book of Ukraine. From the European Red List, there are 28 species of local flora and 22 species of local fauna.

E-mail: karadag@crimea.com

Lugansk nature reserve

Lugansk region, Stanichno-Luganskoe, Milovo and Sverdlovsk districts. Total area – 1,575.5 ha. Year founded – 1968.

Two parts of the reserve (Streltsovskaya Steppe and Stanichno-Luganskoe) belong to the Donetsk-Don northern-steppe district while the Provalskaya Steppe belongs to the Don northern-steppe district of the northern-steppe sub-zone of the steppe zone.

The reserve conserves virgin motley-grass and feather-grass steppe, fescue and feather-grass steppe, flood-plain and ravine forests. The Green Book of Ukraine contains one forest, 78 steppe and five coastal-waters and water associations located here. There are also 36 species of local flora, one species of microbiota, and 91 species of local fauna The Red Book of Ukraine. The European Red List includes 14 species of local flora and 11 species of local fauna from here while the species list compiled in accordance with the Bern Convention had 136 species of local fauna.

Address: 95, Rubezhnaya St., Stanichno-Luganskoe-2, Lugansk region, 93600, Ukraine

3.3 Ukrainian national parks

Azov-Sivash national park

Kherson region, Novotroitskoe and Genichesk districts. Total area – 52,154 ha.                                                                                                                       In 1927, the present-day territory of the park was used as a basis for the newly established Nadmorskyi reserve, which united separate areas of the northern Black Sea region, Sivash, and the Azov region. In 1975, the territory of the Azov-Sivash State Reserve-and-Hunting Enterprise was included in the list of water-swamp grounds of worldwide significance due to local settlements of waterfowl (according to the Ramseur Convention). In 1993, the Azov-Sivash national park inherited the territory of the Azov-Sivash State Reserve-and-Hunting Enterprise.                                                                                                                 

The territory of the national park belongs to the Sivash-Azov low-lying lands of the Black Sea and the Azov dry-steppe province, and the Sivash-Crimea low-lying lands of Crimean steppe province. Coastal regions of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and especially Sivash that has numerous islands and peninsulas, serve as a place of mass bird nesting and stopping point for birds during their periods of spring and autumn migrations. The Green Book of Ukraine includes seven local steppe associations. The Red Book of Ukraine lists four species of local mammals, thirty species of birds, four species of reptiles, two species of fish, two species of mollusks, five species of insects, one species of cancroids, and one species of local hydroid polyps. The European Red List registered two species of local birds.

E-mail: vkorzhyk@chsu.cv.ua

Carpathian national park                                                                                                  

Ivano-Frankovsk region, Verkhovyna and Nadvornaya districts. Total area – 50,303 ha. The first and one of the largest national parks in Ukraine. Year founded – 1980.   The national park hosts eight recreation centers, nine sanatoriums, three sports centers, two summer sanitation complexes, six sanitation camps, and six recreational zones. It is rich in artifacts of monumental architecture, history and culture, and contains a number of archeological monuments and places related to outstanding historical events (opryshki movement, world wars, etc.).The territory of the national park belongs to the Vododilnya-Verkhovyna and Polonyna-Chernogora districts of the Ukrainian Carpathians province of the Carpathian mountain landscape region. The national park hosts forest, sub-Alpine and Alpine natural complexes (unique for the Central Europe), and mixed beech-fir-smereka and pure smereka forests. The Green Book of Ukraine includes 31 local associations. The Red Book of Ukraine lists 78 species of local flora while the European Red List registered three species of local flora. Fauna in the natural park includes 48 species of mammals, 110 species of birds, 11 species of fish, 10 species of amphibians, and six species of reptiles. Thirty-two species of local fauna were registered in the Red Book of Ukraine.

E-mail: cnnp@jarif.ua

Podolskyie Tovtry national park

Khmelnitskyi region, Gorodok, Kamenets-Podolskyi, and Chemerovtsy districts. Total area – 261,316 ha. Year founded – 1996.                                                                                                                                               

The territory of the national park is composed of 70 sanatoriums, prophylactoriums and recreation centers, and enjoys vast reserves of medicinal the mineral water Naftusya (Satanivska in the city of Sataniv) and Mirgorodskaya. The national park also hosts numerous historical and cultural monuments, including the National Historical and Cultural Reserve (Kamenets-Podolskyi), Kamenets-Podolskyi Castle and many others. In general, the park has 15 natural objects of the national importance and 130 objects of regional significance.                                                                                                                                                 

The territory of the national park belongs to the Western Podolye highland district of the West-Ukrainian forest-steppe province of the forest-steppe zone. The park is notable for unique landscapes of the Tovtry mountain-ridge. The ridge is the remainder of the Tortonian barrier reef and has no analogues in Eastern Europe. Besides the Tovtry ridge, visitors pay special attention to the Dnestr canyons, numerous karst deposits and caves (including the well-known Atlantida Cave), unique bassets of Silurian layers, and lakes. Vegetation in the park is dominated by oak forests, which include oak, hornbeam-oak, hornbeam-oak-ash-tree, and beech phytocenosises, unique steppe groupings (including feather grass), and original meadow plants. According to estimates, the national park hosts almost 1,700 species of plants. Sixty species of local flora were registered in the Red Book of Ukraine. The Green Book of Ukraine contains data on five forest and seven steppe plant groupings located in the part. The Red Book of Ukraine also includes 29 species of local fauna.

E-mail: tovtry@kp.rel.com.ua; www.tovtry.km.ua; www.kp.km.ua/tovtry.

Svyati Gory national park

Donetsk region, Krasnyi Liman and Slavyansk districts and the city of Slavyanogorsk.

Total area – 40,589 ha. Year founded – 1997.                                                                                                                                                     

The national park hosts 179 recreation centers.

The territory of the national park belongs to the Western-Donetsk sloping highland district of Donetsk northern steppe province of the steppe zone. This territory primarily includes forest vegetation and also possesses rare regional ecotypes including chalk delimitations along the river of the Severskyi Donets covered with such relic tertiary plants as Cretaceous pine-trees. The Green Book of Ukraine registered some 20 forest and three water associations from here. The park has 3,943 species of vascular plants. Forty-eight local species were included in the Red Book of Ukraine, and 12 local species are mentioned in the European Red List. Fauna of the park is represented by one species of cyclostomata, four species of fish, nine species of amphibians, 10 species of reptiles, 197 species of birds, and 43 species of mammals. The Red Book of Ukraine includes 28 species of local fauna, and the European Red List lists eight species of local fauna.

E-mail: svgor@onlineplus.dn.ua

Uzhanskyi national park

Zakarpatye region, Velikyi Bereznyi district. Total area – 39,159.3 ha. Year founded – 1999.

Back in 1912, when the Zakarpatye region was the part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its territory was chosen to establish one of the first Carpathian reserves. Stuzhytsa founded to conserve local forests. At the time of foundation, its area totaled 331.8 ha. Over the next 20 years, it was increased to 552.9 ha. In 1974, the Stuzhytsa landscape reserve was established (2,542 ha), which was transformed into the Stuzhytsa regional landscape park (14,665 ha) in 1998. The newly founded reserve bordered the Polish-Slovakian Skhidni Karpaty (Eastern Carpathians) biosphere reserve that was registered by UNESCO in 1992. As a result, the Uzhanskyi national park became part of the first European trilateral Polish-Slovakian-Ukrainian Skhidni Karpaty biosphere reserve and now is a leader among such entities in Central Europe.The territory of the park hosts several sources of mineral water, interesting wooden monuments of sacral architecture, two recreation centers, two ski lodges, a sanatorium, tourist center, and temporary tourist resort. The national park borders the Eastern Beskidy and the Polonynskyi ridge of the Ukrainian Carpathians. It belongs to the Carpathian-Ukrainian mountain-forest district of the Carpathian mountain landscape region. The national park includes valuable phytocenosises (virgin and slightly altered due to economic activity), which are dominated by beech, sycamore-beech, and fir-beech forests and relic forests as well as meadow vegetation. More than 20 rare phytocenosises of the park were included in the Green Book of Ukraine. The Red Book of Ukraine contains 10 species of local fauna and some 40 species of local flora while the European Red List registered four species of local fauna.