Prosecutors in Zakarpattia are demanding through the courts that the Carpathian primeval forests be granted protected status

Prosecutors in Zakarpattia are demanding through the courts that the Carpathian primeval forests be granted protected status shutterstock
Maria Semenova

Due to its inaction, the Carpathian Forest Office is putting unique ecosystems at risk

In Zakarpattia region, prosecutors are trying to protect 1,385 hectares of primeval forests – primary forest areas in the Carpathian Mountains. The Tyachiv and Uzhhorod district prosecutor's offices have appealed to the Transcarpathian District Administrative Court against a branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" and are demanding that it finally mark the boundaries of protected areas on the ground.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

In particular, the prosecutor's office insists on marking the boundaries of the botanical reserve of national importance "Urochyshche Stranzul, Zadnya, and Kedryn" with an area of 510 hectares. Its boundaries have not yet been defined on the ground.

Some lawsuits concern primeval forests in the Uzhhorod region. This concerns more than 875 hectares, where the boundaries of protected areas have also not been formally established:

  • “Primeval and quasi-primeval forests of the Turitske Forestry” (643.9 ha);
  • “Primeval and quasi-primeval forests of the Turya-Remety Forestry” (98.4 ha);
  • “Primeval and quasi-primeval forests of the Lyutyanske Forestry” (98.6 ha);
  • “Quasi-primeval forests of the Perechyn Forestry” (35 ha).

“The absence of clear boundaries creates real risks of the land being used for purposes other than intended and poses threats to its conservation, while the defendant fails to take the required measures for the actual legal establishment of the boundaries of the nature reserve fund site,” the Office of the Prosecutor General emphasized.

Earlier, in October 2025, the Tyachiv District Prosecutor’s Office had already initiated granting protection status to more than 527 hectares of primeval forests in Plaiske, Neresnytske, Turbatske, and Lopukhiv forestries. The court satisfied three lawsuits, while another case is still under consideration.

As EcoPolitica previously reported, last year the Zakarpattia District Administrative Court refused to protect the Runa Meadow from illegal wind farm development. It should be recalled that the controversial construction of a wind power plant continues in the Turya-Remety community. Despite the fact that the developer completed some of the work without first obtaining the environmental impact assessment, the Ministry of Economy permitted it to continue construction.

Before the publication of the environmental impact assessment, experts and the public sent appeals to the Ministry regarding the establishment of a reserve on the meadow. Having such authority, the Ministry of Economy, according to activists, shifted this responsibility to the Zakarpattia Regional Administration.

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The institution does not want to take responsibility for creating the reserve, shifting this responsibility to the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration