In Transcarpathia, the Yasinyan village council did not agree to the creation of the "Free Svidovets" reserve, where they planned to build a ski mega-resort.
Officials made dubious arguments about the negative impact of the reserve on community well-being, reports the Free Svydovets community on Facebook.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources approved the request for the creation of the "Free Svidovets" nature reserve and redirected the approval work to the Zakarpattia OVA. However, eco-activists suggested that it is unlikely that the local authorities, which support the destruction of Svidovets for the construction of a mega-resort, will work on the creation of a nature reserve.
They said that the village council gave the following arguments:
- creation of a nature reserve on state lands, although the plots are communally owned;
The community explained that the petition envisages the creation of a reserve on both state and communal lands.
- impossibility of conducting traditional agriculture;
Eco-activists emphasized that it is not forbidden to graze cattle, cut hay, collect mushrooms or berries in the reserves.
- the absence of primeval forests or ancient forests on the site, which the current legislation already prohibits from cutting down;
They noted that there are still relatively many ancient forests in Svidovka.
- the creation of a reserve will make it impossible to collect firewood for the community;
The community emphasized that the reserve will cover only a small part of the mostly high mountain forests within the community. In addition, felling is prohibited in the reserve only in natural forests, and selective felling is allowed in artificial plantations.
- Svidovets is part of the Emerald network and already has a nature conservation status;
According to ecoactivists, in practice the Emerald Network in Ukraine does not ensure nature conservation.
- impossibility of tourism development.
The community noted that the nature reserve will help develop sustainable tourism and prevent the construction of a mega-resort. In Europe, wild nature is a "magnet" for hiking and cycling tourism.
"What in the end? It is expected that the Yasinyan Rural Council did not support the reserve. We are still waiting for answers from the Ust-Chornyanska and Velikobychkivska village councils, although we have no doubts about the refusal," the eco-activists wrote.
As EcoPolitic reported earlier, Svydovetsky massif is one of the most valuable centers of biodiversity of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Construction of a mega-resort will lead to a number of negative changes.
