To protect and preserve Europe’s primeval forests and ensure the long-term protection of nature reserves in Ukraine, Germany is providing 10 million euros to set up a nature conservation fund. The aim is both to support the management of Ukraine’s valuable natural heritage during the war and safeguard its future development. This is intended to help ensure continued preservation of the "Ancient Beech Forests of Europe", a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site.
Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider commented: "Ukraine is home to unique natural landscapes. Since Russia’s war of aggression began, it has become extremely difficult to protect and preserve these nature reserves. The old-growth primeval beech forests, in particular, are of outstanding value in Europe, giving us a special shared European responsibility to preserve and protect them in the long term. As a result of the war, national parks have become both places of refuge and important tourist destinations, attracting many people who lack other alternatives. Intense pressure from visitor numbers now makes a long-term conservation strategy even more essential. We will lay the groundwork by establishing a nature conservation fund totalling 10 million euros."
At the end of his trip to Ukraine, Federal Environment Minister Schneider was able to gain a first-hand picture of the state of Ukraine’s protected areas in the Carpathians and the challenges they face during a visit to the Skolivski Beskydy National Park in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains. Discussions with staff from the national park and representatives of environmental civil society organisations focused mainly on how operations can be maintained in the current situation and irreversible damage to the original forests can be prevented. The talks also centred on specific measures to safeguard the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, particularly in light of potential infrastructure development.
Ulf Zimmermann, Head of the Müritz National Park in Germany: "We have been in contact with the protected areas in Ukraine for some time now and are trying to help in the current crisis and to support reconstruction in the future. We – the alliance of all national parks, biosphere reserves, nature parks and wilderness areas in Germany – expressed solidarity with our colleagues in Ukraine at the start of the war and we continue to stand by their side. When the first aid deliveries were made, nobody imagined that the war would last this long and that people and nature would suffer so much. This makes it all the more important to show tangible signs of support now, to help on the ground and to talk about the future."
During the trip, further opportunities for future cooperation in the protected areas and support for post-war reconstruction will be discussed. To ensure the long-term resilience of the protected areas both during the war and following a possible cessation of hostilities, a wide range of measures is necessary, for example in peatland protection and climate action, the management and conservation of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site "Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe", nature-friendly tourism models, as well as infrastructure reconstruction and a modern protected area management system, joint training and further education for staff and the implementation of a versatile ranger service across the country. To this end, a total of 10 million euros from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Environment Ministry will be channelled into a fund designed to facilitate these measures.
Ukraine is home to 15 forests that form part of the UNESCO Natural World Heritage site "Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe", which also include Europe’s only true primeval forests of any significant size. They form an unparalleled natural area which, due to the limited range of the beech tree, is unique worldwide and therefore of outstanding value to both people and nature.