Svydovets is one of Europe’s most pristine forest landscapes and a biodiversity hotspot in the Carpathian Mountains. The massif is located in the Eastern Carpathians in Western Ukraine. The undisturbed ecosystem is partly inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its exceptional biodiversity and primeval beech forests. Svydovets also includes two sites of the Emerald Network of the Bern Convention and critical parts of ecological network of the Transcarpathian region (Zakarpatska Oblast). It is home to at least 93 endangered species of Red Data book of Ukraine (2009) including the European brown bear and the Eurasian lynx. More than half of Ukraine’s glacial lakes are located on the mountain range. The massif provides the hydrological regime of the region and contains the source of the international Tysa river which is a main tributary of the Danube river.
At the same time, they intend to create a mega-resort – a huge tourist complex “Svidovets” with more than 60 hotels, 120 restaurants, 33 ski lifts and 230 km of trails, which can accommodate up to 28,000 tourists at a time. The plan involves the creation of several shopping malls, medical and fitness centers, banks, multi-story parking lots and even a runway.
If the plans for the construction of the mega-resort are realized, the natural value of this unique area will be lost. Also, large-scale construction will harm the surrounding areas.
This report was researched between June 2018 and June 2019 by the Bruno Manser Fonds (BMF), a charitable association registered in Basel, Switzerland, in collaboration with the European Cooperative Longo maï and the Free Svydovets Group, Ukraine.
