During the war, the Carpathians became the most popular vacation spot for Ukrainians. Local activists say that the flow of people has increased at least tenfold. All these tourists want entertainment, and businessmen, investors, and local residents want to profit from these tourists. So the picturesque nature and forests become superfluous in this economic equation.
Radio Liberty wrote about the consequences of the thoughtless use of the Carpathians.
Mountains are not a road
A popular pastime among Ukrainians, which is so eagerly promoted by local entrepreneurs, is actually disastrous for the Ukrainian mountains. The wheels of jeeps, ATVs, and buggies turn the soil of the Carpathians into a mess.
The damage caused by jeeping is complex and destructive:
- soil erosion. Mechanical impacts harm the vegetation cover that protects the soil from being washed away. Without the roots of plants, and due to wheel ruts, the soil loses its protection from the heavy mountain rains;
- flooding risk. This is a direct consequence of soil erosion. Rainwater carves out the ruts, making them deeper and turning them into channels for water flows. Ironically, as the ruts from off-roading deepen, thrill-seekers blaze new routes in the mountains;
- harm to flora and fauna. Rare Carpathian plants perish under the wheels, while off-roading during the quiet season disturbs animals seeking mates and raising young;
- pollution. Fuel and lubricants seep into the soil and water.
Zoologist Ihor Dykyi told Radio Svoboda that off-roading in the Carpathians originated “thanks to” Yanukovych's son. He was the one who carved out the first rugged route-to Petros.
"Back then, they literally hacked out a track through those junipers so that an SUV could pass. The wheels tore up the surface layer of vegetation, which with its roots anchors the soil. In winter, snow falls, and when it starts to melt in spring, streams begin to wash away this soil, as there are no roots left. And that’s it-soil erosion," said an assistant professor at LNU.
Source: radiosvoboda.org
Lack of specialists
In January 2025, parliament passed a law banning jeeping, with a fine of 17,000 hryvnia for violations. However, there is no one to enforce it. Many foresters, inspectors, and activists are serving in the military.
Meanwhile, the business is growing. Locals are also making money, but experts are convinced that the main flow of income goes to the capital.
"Jeeps and ATVs that are used to harm the environment come from Kyiv and Dnipro. An ATV costs at least 15,000 euros. Where would local people here have that kind of money? They simply bring the vehicles here, hire people to give tourists rides, and the money goes to Kyiv. Even though companies have been registered locally. They enter the park through private residences," said Mykola Panchuk, head of the recreation department of the Carpathian National Park.
Deforestation for construction
Hotel complexes with parking lots, eco-friendly mountain resorts—all of this, on the one hand, brings in taxes and jobs. However, the price of business development is the destruction of the Carpathian forests.
The construction technology in the Carpathians should be different, taking into account the local geology and precipitation. That is why the local Hutsuls have their own architectural style, which has been developed over generations. However, new buildings are constructed in the same way as on the plains, regardless of the consequences of destroying the surrounding greenery.
One such large-scale and alarming project is the construction of the "new Bukovel." The GORO Mountain Resort ski resort will cover almost 1,200 hectares. Scientists and environmentalists are concerned that this will lead to massive deforestation, changes to the landscape, and the accumulation of waste from thousands and thousands of tourists. After all, the resort plans to build 25 hotels with 5,500 rooms.
Fighting windmills
The situation with wind farms is particularly egregious—under the guise of developing "green" energy, unique primeval forests on the Verkhovyna watershed ridge in the Carpathians are now being destroyed.
The planned capacity of the new wind farms is 1.5 GW. And for their construction, sometimes in direct violation of the EIA procedure, the alpine and subalpine forests of the Carpathians are being destroyed.
But this situation is unique to Ukraine. Environmentalists note that no wind farms are being built in the Polish and Slovakian parts of the Carpathian Mountains. This is because those countries realize that the damage to the mountains outweighs the benefits of implementing energy projects.
EcoPolitic previously reported that on Polonyna Runa, foundations for wind turbines have already been constructed. Neither the State Ecological Inspectorate nor the administrative court see any violations.
