IRF :“Preserving virgin forests to slow down climate change and support community development”

“Preserving virgin forests to slow down climate change and support community development”

The International Renaissance Foundation

State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

“Roztochia” Nature Reserve

2021

Virgin and old-growth forests play an important role in slowing down climate change and are home to a large number of rare species of plants and animals, as well as an important tourist and eco-educational centre.  Ukraine has large areas of particularly valuable forest areas, the vast majority of which are concentrated in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mts, including the Lviv region.  Their conservation is critical for the formation of a regional climate model, especially for the Ukrainian Carpathians, which is a tourist centre and a centre for biodiversity conservation in Ukraine.

Ukraine has signed several international documents, including the Association Agreement with the EU, according to which the situation should change in the direction of increasing the area of ​​protected areas, more modern approaches to forest management and biodiversity protection.  But for now, the steps that are being taken are too sluggish and ineffective.

The most valuable natural areas are often closed to the public.  Such restrictions are dictated by the need to protect the biodiversity of the most valuable areas.  This, on the one hand, is the reason why the public does not have enough understanding of the value of such areas, and on the other hand – it creates some tension in local communities, because if any economic activity is prohibited in the territory, and at the same time it can not be objected that attracts tourists – this exacerbates the economic problems in the region.  As part of the project, we will develop models for visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites and other critical protected areas for local communities to reduce the level of conflict between protected areas and local communities.  Let’s do this on the example of the “Roztochia” Nature Reserve.

We will conduct training with employees of forestry enterprises in the Lviv region, and show them the opportunities and benefits of the transition to more sustainable practices of protection of particularly valuable forests and forestry.  Training for forestry workers will be an important impetus for the implementation of the EU Habitats and Birds Directives and will support the development of sustainable forest management.

 As part of the project, we will conduct field research to identify virgin forests in remote areas of the Carpathians and apply to the government to grant conservation status to valuable forests.  The creation of virgin forests natural monuments will make it possible to preserve the most valuable areas and increase the area of ​​the protected areas of Ukraine.