The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a draft law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine 'On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine'" that bans jeeping in protected areas and imposes strict liability for it.
The document stipulates that jeeping is allowed only on roads, streets, and private territories, according to Taras Melnychuk, a government representative in the Verkhovna Rada, on Telegram.
As you know, jeeping is a race, rally, etc. on off-road vehicles (cars, buggies, ATVs). Such entertainment causes significant damage to nature, as cars destroy landscapes and soil, which contributes to erosion. Jeeping disrupts the habitats of animals and plants and has a particularly negative impact on rare and vulnerable species.
Melnychuk said that the draft law defines certain categories of people and vehicles that are allowed to travel in protected areas.
He added that the document also provides for the protection of the fungal world of Ukraine and introduces the categories of "mycological reserve" and "mycological natural monument."
"To this day, there are gaps in our legislation that allow jeep enthusiasts to ride on the territories of the nature reserve," said the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strilets.
He explained that currently a direct ban is in effect only in the zones of strict bequest, and the passage of cars in economic zones and zones of stationary recreation is allowed. Because of this, protected areas are systematically turned into race tracks.
According to Strilets, the draft law was developed by the Ministry of Environment team together with representatives of environmental non-governmental organizations, taking into account international experience.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that in the Kyiv region, jeepers have set up racing tracks in the reserves "Kozynskiy" and "Vasylkivski Carpathians". Jeeps damaged a third of the "Kozynskiy" landscape reserve, and in the "Vasylkivskiy Carpathians" they destroyed the entire population of the red-listed plant of the crescent moon.
Earlier, EcoPolitic prepared an overview of the three main legislative tasks of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources for 2024.
