Short notes on the state

Andrey A. Kovalchuk

Short notes on the state of the environment ofTranscarpathians (Zakarpattya)

Uzhgorod – 2017

Author – Andrey A. Kovalchuk, Professor of Zoology, doctor of biological Sciences in the field of freshwater Hydrobiology worked at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Institute of geography of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and Uzhgorod National University, where for some time he headed the Department of Zoology at the faculty of biology. Due to the closure of the research financial support, "indecent" salaries and intrigue from the absolutely ridiculous and incompetent leadership of the faculty of biology of this university was forced to resign. Now working in the research group AEBC, University of Ton Duc Thang (Vietnam) and preparing documents for immigration to the Kingdom of Thailand. Professor Kovalchuk has published three times more articles in journals classified in SJR and SCOPUS than all biological faculty in its entire history. In "gratitude" for good scientific accomplishments "the scientific" Council of the biological faculty withdrew him from its membership (“Stupid is as stupid does”). Note that all of the Department of Zoology (and the entire Faculty of biology) for the period of their existence have not discovered any new for the science species of animal or plant, and majority "scientists" of this faculty do not have even "a pearl of wisdom" of a single scientific publication in reputable scientific journals.

Andrey A. Kovalchuk in the Valley of Narcisse in Zakarpattya (May 2006).

Andrey Kovalchuk visited about 50 countries of the world. Now preparing an expedition to East Africa, particularly in Tanzania into the famous volcano of Kilimanjaro (where is going to investigate harpacticoids crustaceans) and Serengeti National Park.

Andrey A. Kovalchuk

Short notes on the state of the environment of Transcarpathians (Zakarpattya)

Uzhgorod – Polihraftsentr “Lira” – 2017

This small book is an attempt on the basis of a number of publications in conference proceedings and reports at the plenary meetings to give a more or less objective assessment of the state of the environment of the Carpathians, because of its location between the various Central European countries often have not positive impacts on the environment. That there is only a requirement of the European Union on the extension of timber sales. Such initiatives, our officials perceive very positively. Prototypes of publications that were used as the basis for writing this book have undergone substantial processing, in the light of new data, or data that previously was unavailable to the author. The author tried to translate the specified publication into the English language (American English), which was not editable by ethnic English counterpart, and therefore may contain a separate grammatical flaws. For that I apologize. Designed for guards of nature lovers and professional scientists that are trying to protect our nature. Illust. – 35. Reference – 16 sources.

Kovalchuk Andrey – Doctor of biological sciences, Professor, Part-time researcher of Arthropod Ecology and Biological Control Research Group and Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Email: [email protected]

ISBN 978-617-596-252-7

© Kovalchuk Andrey A., 2017 © Polihraftsentr “Lira”, 2017

Front page image: Aromia moschata f. prorsa is in the Red Book of Ukraine.

IntroducƟon.

ZakarpaƩya (Transcarpathians) — the center of Europe and the last steps for

the reintegraƟon of Ukraine into the European family of NaƟons obliged to take care of health in the closest proximity to Europe region of Ukraine. In the proposed essay based on the number of publicaƟons and my reports at the

conferences I tried to make some generalizaƟons on various aspects of environment of Transcarpathians. Obviously, now is available much more the data of monitoring of air, soil and water undertaken by various authorized organiza-

Ɵons. Much beƩer contact with our colleagues from abroad, which allows faster response to common threats. Do not be mistaken of suppose that aŌer entry into the European Union our colleagues from Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and

Poland have geƫng things beƩer: the implementaƟon of European approaches impact. I hope that Ukraine finally opens encouraging prospects, especially aŌer the compleƟon of the raƟficaƟon procedure of the AssociaƟon agreement

with the European Union and the beginning of work of this agreement in full force. God save our beauƟful nature. Uzhgorod, June 1, 2017 Andrey Kovalchuk

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1. The Tisza basin as a region of particular risk for the environment.

For a long me, the region of the Tisza catchment area, which within

Ukraine are fully owned in the Carpathians, has been considered rela vely safe in Europe. However, the catastrophic floods of 1998 and 2001 in Transcarpathians have demonstrated the fallacy of this view. Should note that

even one flood with traits of catastrophic event can completely change the configura on of water body of the river or stream forever (Fig. 1-1, 1-2). Other dangerous man-caused phenomena is the numerous breakthroughs of concentrated solu ons of cyanide and heavy metals from the tailings of mining plants of the Romanian Baia Mare and Baia Borsa. So, in January 30, 2000 from the tale reservoir of Austrian-Rumanian gold-mining enterprise in Baia Mare that Ukrainian sounds like a Big Mine, were washed away by rain and melt water about 100000 cubic meters of cyaPhoto 1-1. Stream of Paporotniy in Stuzhitsa village nides salts with concentra on before catastrophic flood in winter 2006.

of 400 mg/l had been thrown

into the river Lápos (Szőke & Imre, 2000) . The River Lápos is a second order * Based on the paper published in: The ways of solving ecological problems of the Carpathians region in the context of the ac vi es of state ins tu ons and public organiza ons. – Materials of scienƟ cpracƟcal conference held in Uzhgorod (Transcarpathians) September 29 – October 1, 2000. – Kyiv (Ukraine): All-Ukrainian Environmental League, 2000. – P. 34-36.

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tributary of the river Tisza, therefore

the

discharge

of

polluted water into a tributary of a first order river, Szamos right on into the Tisza was only a

ma er of me. At

these

events,

as

par cularly dangerous to the

environment and, of course, for the popula on, as well as those that may be repeated, we will

pay greater a en on. According to es mates of the Hungarian ichthyologists as a result of poisoning of water with cyanide was killed about 1,000 tons of Photo 1-2. Stream of Paporotniy in Stuzhitsa village fish (Tisza cyanide spill..., 2000). long period a er the event of catastrophic flood in A number of other

summer 2012. Side and bo om erosion is awful aqua c (May, 2017).

animals that also died from the cyanide, it is impossible even to es mate. From the point of view of trophic Hydrobiology loss of the organisms just previous to the fish trophic level will be much higher – more than 10 thousand tons. The process of revival of life in the river, restoring of the purifica on ability of waters occurred during the year due to living ac vity of small organisms with short life cycles. The restora on of complex of aqua c biocenosis ll the state of exis ng before the accident, especially popula ons of fish, needs years and the result will depend on what is preserved in the tributaries of the Tisza.

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A similar picture of destruc on of all life on a significant sec on of the river had to watch in 1983. In the accident at Stebnikovskiy potash plant from

the tailings pond into the Dniester river got concentrated salt solu on, which was accumulated in the sediments of the Novodnistrovsk Reservoir. We can say that the Dniester was "saved" by its Carpathians tributaries, which become

donors of the dead river bad. While cases of contamina on of water by cyanide occur occasionally, however, the consequences are staggering. Contamina on of waters with heavy metal salts is noted quite o en. Developed countries in Europe also suffered many

mes from such accidents, but they, unlike Ukraine, have

millions of Euros to carry out works on re-naturaliza on of the landscape. You may recall, for example, the river Guadiamar in Spain (April 1998), which was spilled by 5 million cubic meters of water contaminated with salts of heavy metals. On September 9, 2000 in Sweden there was a similar accident, and the damages were not less. Transcarpathians wasn’t spared such a disaster. The events of March 10, 2000, showed that such accidents do not know borders. The accident at another Romanian tailing dump in Baia Borsa touched on the Ukrainian territory. Across the river Visheu that flows into the Tisa near the village of Dilove, occurred contamina on of about 30 thousand cubic meters of heavy metal salts from tailings. Some say it was up to 100 thousand cubic meters. It is clear that for the environment is be er not to build the tailings, but if they are already under construc on, we should adhere to all technical standards. These standards – in par cular granulometric composi on of sand, were disturbed during construc on, and the Romanian side was informed in advance (Lorber, 2000). 6


To explore the consequences of the accident in Central Europe and with a view to their preven on in the future, the EU together with Hungary and

Romania had created a special Commission – abbreviated (Baja Mare Task Force). One of the highlights of the preven on of the harmful effects of BMTF considers a wide public awareness of such events, as well as the study of the

social and other consequences of accidents of this type. For this purpose, was created a special informa on grid reference na onal organiza ons (Focal points). What are the future prospects of the en re region of the Tisza in terms of preven on of accidents such as the Baia Mare – Baia Bursa? They are disappoin ng. The ICPDR - Interna onal Comission for the Protec on of the Danube River have prepared a map (issued by Zinke Environment Consul ng for Central and Eastern Europe) of poten al emergency of accident-risk points within the catchment of the Tisza. Only the tailings ponds and se lings here are 17 (!). Of these, 16 in Romania and 1 in Hungary. But in Hungary 5 points of the oil industry and 3 companies of the energy sector. Yes, and the bucket of radioac ve waste Puspokszilagy, which is located to the North near Budapest, is a huge threat to the environment and people. There are several objects with the poten al to cause catastrophic pollu on. Note the enterprises of mining industry, metallurgical industry, chemical industry, large food and sugar refineries, pulp and paper mills and large pig farms. The amount of such objects in the Tisza region is 42.

As for Transcarpathians, there are 5-6 objects such poten ally dangerous for the whole region. These are: Perechyn, Svalyava and Veliko-Bichkivsky industrial

complexes,

oil

pipeline

Prykarpa ransna oprodukt. 7

Druzhba

and

2

objects

to


Of course, now not all of the above industrial complexes opera ng at full capacity. However, the industry is gradually coming alive, and therefore, the

workers in these enterprises and local governments should carefully study not only na onal but also interna onal legisla on, especially the sec ons on safety and compliance of produc on cycles with the European standards (Farago,

Koscis-Kupper, 2000). However, even more dangerous carry catastrophic natural events such as floods, mudflows, landslides, earthquakes, etc. A par cular problem are the floods. It should be noted that the region has always suffered from floods (Photo 1-3), which appear 10 to 12 mes in a year. However, only some of them have signs of catastrophic (Photo 1-4) with serious economical losses (Photo 1-5). So, in August of 1927 there was a flood, which resulted in the destruc on of all

Photo 1-3. Flood on the Tisza near the city of Rakhiv and effec vely ac ng protec ve river bank construc ons built a er the catastrophic flood in 2001 (Summer, 2002). 8


Photo 1-4. Catastrophic flood in the basin of the river Tisza in the Rakhiv District (Nov. 1998).

Photo 1-5. Destroyed bridge on the river Rika near Khust city a er flood in 2001 and the new built bridge that cost over 1 million of US$ (Sep. 2003). 9


bridges in Rakhiv district. Absolute leadership in the amount of precipita on during the rain keeps flooding in December 1947 (Kovalchuk et al., 2001). A warning about the floods of 1998 and 2001 can be considered the flood of 1994, when losses totaled more than $ 10 million. There wasn’t done the proper conclusions. The projects to strengthen the banks and construc on of dams were not financed. The projects of crea on of addi onal polders, projects of reconstruc on of bridges had been not developed. Moreover, in 1995-1998 were happened the largest in amount, the most terrible in technology, and least controlled by responsible organiza ons of predatory logging in the forests of Transcarpathians. Especially notoriety gained in this ques on by Ust-Chornyanskiy forest enterprise (in this period the director was I. Sojma), which “management” led to the decline of the forest cover of 7-10% (Photo 1-6). That in most flood dangerous Ust-Chornyanskiy tract of Tyachiv District – up to 225 mm of water

per rain! (Conclusion of the scien fic Commission..., 2001). Thus, only the last two catastrophic floods, the number of open criminal cases and repeated demonstra ons by people for his immediate removal forced the leadership of the province (Governor G. Moskal) to take some measures and this was headed now by a different person.

But back to the floods of 1998 and 2001. Each of them also holds some sad records. So, the November floods in 1998 were worth about 800 million of UAH, that was at this me about $ 200 million USD equivalent. Let me remind

you that this was in the me of flood the en re debt for miners of Donbass. It was completely destroyed nearly 3000 homes and over 12.000 dwellings required major repairs. In addi on, it was blurry 254 km of roads in 35 sec ons,

9 km of railway tracks in 7 areas and destroyed 10% of all bank protec on, 10


Photo 1-6. Ac vity of Ust-Chornyanskiy forest enterprise that led to catastrophic floods in the area (Summer 1999).

which the province has more than 270 km. If the occurrence of such floods may

explain by uncontrollable natural phenomena (at least on a global scale the impact of man-caused factors on such phenomena is s ll significant), the impact in 2/3 is the result of human ac vity. At the conference in 2000 at the sanatorium “Pearl of the Carpathians” (Svaliava District), which was held by all-Ukrainian Ecological League, the author of these paper in his presenta on warned of the possibility of even more catastrophic floods in Transcarpathians in the near future. This predic on came true in March of 2001, when flood levels exceeded at many sites the historical maxima caused losses worth about a hundred million dollars. Was completely destroyed more than 2.000 buildings and damaged several

mes more. It was also destroyed 4% of the shore protec on.

Somewhat less than in 1998, the amount of damage you can thank some 11


funding (although only 1/3 of the planned volume) of recovery opera ons, using the latest technologies in bridge engineering (only bridge spanning the

River Rika near Khust City, built without pillars, cost $ 1.5 million), the resump on of construc on of Bank protec on by the river and hewn stone, the termina on of a con nuous development of building in the area of the

floodplain. The decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 31 January 2001 “On the procedure of use of lands in zones of possible flooding” clearly defined rules for such a development. In par cular, there are four zones of poten al flooding from one – me flooding in two years, to one flooding in a hundred years. Within the first area of land can only be used for pastures and hayfields. Transcarpathians has natural precondi ons for the emergence and development of dangerous geological processes, namely landslides, floods, erosion. A er the floods in 1998 were iden fied 2500 sites of increased landslides, which have destroyed 549 houses, and 1377 were in the danger zone. At the beginning of 2002 in the area, there were about 800 ac ve landslides. 327 more landslides had been resulted from a heavy precipita on in March 2001. As a result of their ac ons was ruined and damaged 154 houses. Now on the account of the Transcarpathians geological expedi on exist about 500 landslides. The most landslide-prone are Tyachiv, Mizhgiria and Khust districts, in each of which there are more than 100 such events. Some of the offsets, such as Vilkhovetskiy (under the name of the village), which was formed on November 17, 1998, is classified as “Monuments of Nature”. Its volume is over 30 million cubic meters of rocks in the length of 800 m and a depth of 60-80 m. In the upper part of the landslide there is a chasm deeper than 40 m. The genesis of this shi lasted for over 400 years. 12


Also mudslides are developing in the province. Only in March 2001 they were formed more than 100 mes. The village occur on the steep mountain

roads, eroded steep slopes. Most of the mudflows is anthropogenic in nature. One of the stages of occurrence of debris flows is the phenomenon of lateral erosion. The la er is a manifesta on of the ignorant wood felling near the

mountain roads, bad engineering and wood cu ng in slopes. So, back to the enormous water proof and soil reten on role of forests in the Carpathians and Transcarpathians in par cular. Covered by forests area for 2002 is 648 thousand hectares in Transcarpathians. In 1933, the corresponding area amounted to 626 thousand ha. During this period the total area of wood felling was also significant. Thus, in 1930, logging occurred in the area of 7500 ha! But felling strictly adhere to environmentally sound technologies (horse skidding, the use of “Rizas” – the special chutes for the descent of mber, autumn-winter harves ng, 100% reforesta on a er felling), thus avoiding catastrophic natural phenomena. Summing up the above, it should be noted that the solu on of the situa on in Transcarpathians, due primarily with sufficient funding of environmental programs, because what to do – has long been known. A variety of commi ees at various levels gained solid recommenda ons to state administra on bodies from the local to the Cabinet. However, the lack of financing or improper use of exis ng funding – for example to “fight” with the island forma ons in the rivers that, as a rule, are reduced to semi-legal taking of gravel in the rivers. This is not conducive to long-term stabiliza on of the environmental situa on in the Carpathians.

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Reference Conclusion of the scien fic commission on study of the causes of the flood of march 4–8, 2001 in Zakarpatska oblast, and long-term ac vi es aimed to prevent such catastrophic phenomena in future / V. Nikolaichuk, A. Kovalchuk, Y. Krochko et al. – Uzhgorod: “Lira”, 2001. – 57 p. Farago T., Kocsis-Kupper Z. Accidental transboundary water pollu on: principles and provisions of the mul lateral legal instruments. –Budapest: WWF, Hungarian Programme Office, 2000. – 72 p. Kovalchuk A., Nikolaichuk V., Krochko Y., Boiko M. The reasons of catastrophic floods in Transcarpathians and perspec ves to avoid them in future). (In

Ukrainian) // Scien fic bulle n of Uzhgorod na onal university (Biology). – No 9. - 2001. – P. 5-20. Lorber K. Aurul-dam, Baja Mare and Novat-Dam, Baja Borsa, Maramures Coun-

ty, Romania. –Leoben: Inst. für Entsorgungs- und Deponie-technik, 2000. – 83 p. Szőke S., Imre A. Tájékoztató a Tisza és a Szamos 2000. I. negyedévében bekövetkeze

rendkívüli szennyezéseiről és hatásairól a Felző-Tisza-

vidéki Környezetvédelmi Felügyelőség működési területén (Informa on on irregular contamina on of Tisza and Szamos at area of Fe -Köfe (Nyíregyháza) // Budapes Közegészségügy. – 2000. – V. 32, No 3. – P. 227-237. Tisza cyanide spill must not recur. – Budapest-Wienna: WWF, 2000. – 4 p.

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2. Something about the state of environment or why the house we live at looks like chewed by termites.

A simple analysis of the situa on shows that the Transcarpathians region, like the rest of Ukraine does not apply to areas with favorable environmental situa on, which is especially observed in recent years. A border loca on is con-

ducive to economic development, making our region a hostage to the situa on of Romanian mining companies and the Hungarian nuclear power. Accidents of pipelines, windfalls, catastrophic floods (Photo 2-1), landslides, erosion (Photo 2-2) , pollu on of industrial waste - that's just a brief list of reasons that greatly complicate the already difficult situa on of our region and create a series of problems requiring solu ons. Countries with economies in transi on, which include Ukraine, are s ll in the process of moving to civil society. Star ng opportuni es of our region in this way is significant. We haven’t completely lost the skills of Photo 2-1. Consequences of catastrophic flood in March 2001. Primary selfschool in Luh village of Rakhiv district (Mar. 2001).

management;

* Based on the paper published in: Youth in addressing regional and transboundary environmental security: Proceedings of the II scien fic conference. Chernivtsi, May 14-15, 2003. – Chernivtsi: Publ. “Golden ke ledrums” (“Zolo lytavry”), 2003.

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great poten al for development of forestry and agriculture, recrea on and tourism s ll exists. We have now reached what wanted – the shape (Ukraine is a state). It remains to fill the form with contents, that is, to provide people with a decent life, to raise (at least) to the average European its standard and quality level, and this is possible only on the basis of harmonious social and economic development, with priority in rela on to the state of the environment (stable, or, as it is not quite correctly called sustainable development). Because without a healthy environment there is no life itself or it exists in the ugly. We cannot avoid incarna on in the future the reality of the characters-mutants from a science fic on movie, just as embodied in the life of the submarines, flights to the moon, the hyperboloid of engineer Garin and many other specula on of science fic on writers have been realized to date. It seems everybody understand it – even the candidates in depu es of different levels, because include slogans such as television futuris c series. The case for small: to listen to the scien sts to perform their own decisions. Ar cle 9 of the Law of Ukraine Photo 2-2. Erosion and mud flow in the slope below “On environmental protec on” the Rakhiv city (Sep. 2001). 16


states: “Every ci zen has the right on safe for life and health environmental natural environment.” Because I have the rights to be right! Crea ng rela vely good laws, we have forgo en a bit – to provide a mechanism for their implementa on. Having said A, one must learn to speak and B. Then the ques on will be raised: how are our neighbors suddenly had made such progress that they have pensions for several hundred dollars? This is not just because have less to steal, a be er understanding of the laws of the market – has changed their worldview. People no longer stand with an outstretched palm. They began to listen their specialists. For example, our neighbors in Central Europe understand that game decrease in amount not because the wolves ate it but due to destroying the natural habitats – this is the reason, therefore ruthlessly exploited the forest and sits hungry people in the woods. Our neighbors took wolves under protec on, people were given a slice of bread and game appear there, and the number of foxes that steal chickens from human, immediately reduce (the wolves regulate foxes). It is called sustainable approach. So, this way the Environment and Economics are connected. There's nothing in the economy to have not invented a long me ago by Nature. One more thing: responsibility. For their ac ons, for the ac ons of the or-

ganiza on that are represented by real people. If at least some of the crime against nature of Transcarpathians was convicted? No way! Fly away from their posi ons only because of the poli cal shuffle. As sang a bard Vladimir Vysotsky

– “And in the deck some aces and kings ...” Not so lousy live that reforms are conducted, and because few spent, and nothing wanted to carry out. Because squander our natural resources like: will

17


hold in the mountain village gas! Hurray!!! (It doesn't remind slogans of any party?). And why is there gas when is the wood in the forest! And maybe in the

gas deficient state is wiser to use the experience of Switzerland and Austria, where in General, there is no gas in the mountain towns and all live (and how live) on the wood, and sawdust (which we have polluted all the mountains) is

brique ed and burned in the ovens. Despite the fact that: We have plenty of wind and do you see a lot of wind turbine with the generator? Somebody recognized such direc on as hopeless. And who was recognized, why recognized, who was conducted the exper se? Why no public listening of the defining ques ons those shape our future? The latest example – headless composed the flood control program in the framework which envisages the construc on of 40 containing reservoirs to fill by flood water is not provided to equip by detaining construc ons. So, it is unknown where will be exported accumulated silt during the first 2-3 years of exploita on. Fortunately this project for the squandering of public funds seems to have buried.

The Transcarpathians Province is provided sufficiently by water resources. The average density of the hydrological grid in the region is 1.7 km/sq. km, which is one of the highest in Europe, but the level of provision of supplies of

drinking water and sewerage is very weak. Deteriora on of water supply and sewerage services is some mes 100%. Only 1% of rural se lements have centralized water disposal, and as much as

3% of centralized water supply. Recall that the norm of the European Union the se lements with a popula on of over 15 thousand people must have centralized water supply and drainage without excep on. So, we finally reached the

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Photo 2-3. Rests of old water-meal on the stream Paporotniy in Stuzhytsia village (June, 2005).

EU un l 2011, as it was intended by the decree of President Leonid Kuchma 20 years ago? Now 2017, and even the Associa on of Ukraine with the European

Union has not yet entered into effect in full. Note that our ancestors quite effec ve use of water resources many decades ago. For example, only in the village of Stuzhytsia, in Velykobereznianskyi district of the Transcarpathians province there were 4 water mills. The remains of this mill, the author found on the stream Paporotniy (Photo 2-3). Similarly, how with small hydropower? Right: weak. At first glance, the archaic methods of using water power as water mills and water sawmills that are s ll preserved in some areas, clearly demonstrate that the ra onal approach to this issue can ensure that the needs of the popula on can be 19


achieved without significant harm to the

environment. Only now we can boast of certain developments in small

hydropower (Photo 24). Modern

civiliza-

on is full of garbage. The problem of waste disposal of industrial and domes c origin is a big problem in our land -hungry

region.

The

need for some steps it becomes clear already from looking at what Photo 2-4. Ultra-small reservoir for the hydropower sta on swims in our rivers dur- “Shipot-2” on the river Shipot in Perechinskiy district (February, 2015).

ing floods. Building of factories on recycling is perspec ve, but it is expensive, and the first step was to provide a centralized scavenging of the villages, the sor ng of household waste.

Should provide funds for this purpose in district and village budgets. It is early to tackle emerging problems, and not wait for their exacerba on. In connec on with the liquida on of former collec ve and state farms the

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environmental impact of pes cides and the introduc on of fer lizers are reduced. However, the province has about 37.2 thousand ha of eroded agricul-

tural land (7.9% of the total arable land), and the content of humus in arable land area has decreased over the past period from 2.6 to 2.2 %. No Comments. But the most relevant for the region are issues of protec on from the destruc ve forces of floods. Transcarpathians scien sts developed a number of proposals that focus on concrete results – to avoid destruc ve flooding in the future. Some implement what is gained, is done, but not as much as would like. Forest issues are especially stuffed all on edge. Hardly implemented is nature saving technologies of harves ng and transporta on of

mber, which

leads to clu ering of streams, erosion, and other nega ve phenomena. Districts of Transcarpathians Province cannot refuse to use the forest completely as a resource. The ques on is about its ra onal use, without causing devasta ng damage to the environment, the elimina on of which requires considerable me intervals and means. Thus, do not scare people by priva za on. This is another bugbear: in Europe, 70% of forests are private and the same people are living, not ex nct. We have again frequent commissions to the famous Ust-Chornyanskiy state forestry enterprise. Only this enterprise in its short history of forest

offence knows more infringements of legisla on than all forestries of Western Europe over the last century. It is very simple to stop it – we need only to recognize illegal logging as the

in the criminal code, as transporta on of the

wood from the forest without proper documenta on. One more unpleasant phenomenon becomes relevant in recent years in Transcarpathians, namely the conflict between protectors of nature who are

21


trying to create new objects of Nature reserve fund, and development interests of the region's economy, the interests of individual social groups and business-

es. An example is the freezing for an indefinite period of cross-border passing from Transcarpathians to Poland, as it should go through the Bieszczady Naonal Park in the Biosphere reserve "Eastern Carpathians", resis ng of crea on of poten ally interna onal the Na onal Park "Pri sanski", problems with alloca on, or reserva on forests under new objects of Nature reserve fund. Thus, by itself, the change of poli cal orienta on of priori es a er the change of President or the Haute Council will not solve environmental problems of Transcarpathians Province, because, remember, the greatest viola ons of environmental legisla on in the Carpathians were observed in the period of his tenure as Minister of Environment of the representa ve of the na onalpatrio c forces Mr. Yuriy Kostenko. Therefore, we must change the a tude to environment in the whole society, which must recognize that the growth of the standard of life, does not in

itself opens the way to Europe.

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3. Hydrochemical and hydrobiological regime of water bodies of the Tisza basin...

Transcarpathians has the most developed hydrographic network in Ukraine which belongs to the Tisza basin. However, the status of aqua c ecosystems in the region, as well in the Ukrainian Carpathians as a whole is far

from prosperous. So, in the ar cle by Mr. Anatoly Yatsik, Doctor of Sciences from the Ukrainian Research Ins tute of water and environmental studies (see “Water economy of Ukraine”, No. 1-2, 1998), 67% of the Carpathians rivers

belongs to the category “ecological state sa sfactory” (i.e. for E – Enough), and the rest – “ecological state bad.” To find at least one or two “the control river”, that means the modern state of which is close to natural is almost impossible. With a certain approxima on, for instance, may be the river Hoverla, which is en rely within the Carpathians biosphere reserve. How is determined the ecostate of the water basin? Any aqua c ecosystem is characterized by water reten on (hydrological), hydrochemical and hydrobiological regime. To the first (which is not considered in this ar cle) are included, for example, characteris cs such as: speed and character of flow, water temperature, turbidity, transparency. To the second – the content of chemical compounds and their status, ac ve water acidity, and finally to the third – aqua c biota (aqua c organisms) with all its connec ons. It is obvious that the species composi on, community structure and their func onal ac vity is a direct response to the condi ons of existence. This mode is set by the first two, and is the result of processes occurring within the aqua c biocenosis. This reac on is defined as the individual elements of the environment (factors) and their combined effects (synergism). * Based on the paper published in: Na ve Nature (Kiyv). -№5-6. -2002. -P. 50-52.

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A number of hydrochemical and hydrobiological indicators of water are normalized, that is, they have developed tables of maximum permissible

concentra ons (MPC). Others, although not normalized, in some places there are not changeable when evalua ng the actual “health” of aqua c ecosystems. It is the diversity of and, o en, not the predictability of the reac ons of

hydrobionts to the ac on of different environmental factors causes the need for a comprehensive hydrochemical and hydrobiological monitoring of water ecosystems. It is obvious that only in this case, it is possible to judge the

presence of response to pollu on of a par cular compound, the deteriora on of ecostate of aqua c ecosystems in general. Certain types of contaminants rather difficult to iden fy or classify. In order to iden fy pollu ng substance you must install the enterprise that carries out unauthorized discharges into water bodies. So, in December of 2001, I find an oily liquid on the surface of the water of an ar ficial pond (Photo 3-1) in the city of Uzhgorod, which was formed on the site of a former andesite quarry. Because the reservoir is ac vely used in the summer with recrea onal purpose, and the substance was unknown, in the long term there is a risk to the health of local residents. It was obvious that the tube from which industrial effluents dumped, laid from a nearby Private joint stock company “Andesite”, located at 8A Granitna street in Uzhgorod. Contaminant was a mixture of material for grinding slabs of stone. We reported this fact to the environmental Inspectorate and outrage was discon nued. It should also be noted that some indicators of MPC for water bodies are exceeded in the Carpathians in the power of purely natural causes. So, frequent excessive concentra ons in the water of phenols, especially in watercourses with clu ered by trunks of trees, caused by the decomposi on of wood, and 24


Photo 3-1. Hydrobiological team on the ar ficial pond during contamina on in Dec, 2001.

Photo 3-2. Contaminant on the surface of the ar ficial pond in Uzhgorod in Dec, 2001. 25


the presence of significant concentra ons of many metals in the ssues of aqua c organisms from high mountain lakes, such as lake Synevir, shows only

on close outs of indigenous geological forma ons, rich in polymetallic ores. The

planned

monitoring aqua c

ecosystems according to the

hydrochemical (and some typical hydrological) indicators have been maintained by the state Department of natural resources in the Transcarpathians province. As well the number of special studies will be carried out by a team of scien sts hydrobiologists from Hydroecological society “Uzh” (created in 2004 and existed ll 2017). The magnitude of the control shows, for example, the data sampling for the year 2001. Department of analy cal control of the state administra on of ecoresources in the year took 1060 water samples, of which 366 samples of sewage (enterprise pollutants), 679 surface, 15 underground of the waters. Iden fica on of chemical ingredients was carried on 17706 mes. Determina on was carried out according to the general physical and inorganic chemical indicators, general indicators of organic ma er, inorganic indicators of industrial pollu on, indicators of organic pollu on from industry, some biological (including bacteriological indicators). Monitoring surface water quality was conducted at 45 sites, including directly on the Tisza river monitoring at 10 permanent sta ons from which five sites, monitoring is carried out jointly with the environmental authori es of neighboring countries (the Republic of Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Romania ) on the basis of intergovernmental bilateral agreements. Substan al material on the hydrobiological regime has been accumulated by scien sts (Photo 3-3) that can be regarded as a significant success, because

such studies, unfortunately, are generally not funded at the state level and we 26


Photo 3-3. Zooplankton sampling on the Uzh River below the city of Uzhgorod (Win. 2002).

have to rely on foreign grants, at least – funds of environmental protec on. What are scien sts studying? First and foremost is the species composi on of

the

organisms

inhabi ng

the

water

bodies

of

different

type

of

Transcarpathians. The uniqueness of groups of hydrobionts of the Carpathians rivers is the absence or almost complete absence of euplankton, that is specific

or characteris c groups of small organisms in the water column. Instead formed temporary communi es, called meroplankton. In fact, these are organisms from the bo om of reservoirs which are carried into the water

column and there may exist quite a long

me. Especially common is this

phenomenon in the period of floods, which in the Carpathians is common (some mes even 10-12 per year). The soil in the waters of the Tisza basin are

27


also different from typical flat. In rivers it is mostly pebbles and rocks with small patches between of sand or silty sand. Clayey or silty soils are found only in

floodplains, as well as in len c water bodies of different types. All this affects the species composi on of aqua c organisms. On species richness of aqua c organisms can be judged from the fact that only free-living ciliates found in the

waters of Transcarpathians have more than 400 species. Here exist more than 100 species of crustaceans, tens and even hundreds of species of aqua c insect larvae. Even the mere presence of a par cular group of organisms that refers to

the so-called, bio-indicators, can evaluate the state of the aqua c environment and already allows to make certain conclusions. For example, the absence of certain species of ciliates below the city of Uzhgorod in the warm season

suggests that the ecosystem of the river pre y quickly to cope with a high organic pollu on level which is caused by the discharge of untreated domes c wastewater and the presence of unauthorized sources of pollu on. A different

situa on is in the cold season. The appearance of some species of ciliates (e.g. the well-known Paramecium) indicates that here are “flows” of organic pollu on. More informa on can be obtained from the structure of groups of hydrobionts. The most important structural indicator of water biocenosis is the abundance of individual species of organisms. Under the influence of external and internal environmental factors the biological system may change the ra o of the number of individual species, resul ng in changing values of the different result of structural indices and also gives possibility of indica on about the processes taking place in ponds and watercourses. By the way, the term of abio c and bio c factors is not successful, as hardly to determine the origin of the factor. For example, oxygen dissolved in water gets there in two ways – by 28


dissolving in water an atmospheric oxygen and due to the photosynthesis of aqua c plants (especially unicellular algae). Finally, func onal indicators, such as: the mineraliza on of organic ma er, transforma on of trace elements, organic substances, growth of aqua c organisms and features of their development. It is obvious that the greatest interest, as such, be er reflect the “health” of aqua c ecosystems and is easier interpreted a er sta s cal processing are indicators of transforma on of organic ma er. In fact, the balance of organic ma er in the aqua c ecosystem is formed by the external (pollu on from various sources and organic ma er, formed in terrestrial biocenosis) and internal sources (primary produc on of aqua c plants and algae, occurs with oxygen – Photo 3-4), and

Photo 3-4. Young hydrobiologists Volodimir Pliashechnik (le ) and Vitaliy Stehun are processing experiments of the Gross primary produc on and decomposi on of organic ma er on highly trophic the Vorochevo lake “Lower” (July, 2006). 29


the ability to mineralize these organic compounds (the process of decomposi on that takes place with absorp on of oxygen). At first glance, the

enrichment of water by oxygen during produc on is a posi ve phenomenon. However, everything is good in modera on, as with a significant development of algae in aqua c ecosystems may experience a number of nega ve

phenomena and processes. Let us a look on the phenomenon of algae blooming. It is well known from some lowland basins (the Dnieper cascade, a reservoir the Sasyk in the Odessa region). It is considering an interes ng effect,

which is accompanied by produc on of organic ma er in the Transcarpathians rivers. In the morning the ac ve water acidity (pH) is neutral or weakly acidic and is changing to alkaline in the evening as a result of intensive

photosynthesis. This is par cularly no ceable in shallow rivers, such as the Tereblya, a significant part of the runoff of which is taken for energy needs (spreads from the Tereble-Rikske reservoir into the Rika River). This effect,

which it would seem, does not affect our lives, has become very topical in the period of pollu on of the Tisza by salts of heavy metals from tailings ponds of the mining enterprise in Romanian town of Baia Borsa – (or Baia Borşa in

March 2000). Should note the fact that heavy metals and other wastes are in water in various forms (Table 1). The most dangerous ionic form predominates in acidic or neutral medium. Hence it is clear that it was recommended to

consider the possible intakes of drinking water not only due to the content of metals in the water, but also by the ac ve acidity of the water. That is, the intake of water for various needs was safer to do in the evening. In general, the main watercourse of the Tisza within Transcarpathians is polluted by wastes from the local units of industrial, local sewages of ci es and towns: Rakhiv, V. Bychkov, Solotvyno, Tyachiv, Vinogradov. However, on the 30

0,004 0,034 0,012 0,003 0,004

0,002

upper reaches the absence of significant sources of pollu on can

a ribute the water to the I class. A certain deteriora on appears on a site near the village of Vilok

(Ukrainian-Hungarian border, the area where the Tisza flows en rely through the territory of Hungary).

Even more significant deteriora on on some hydrochemical and

14,6 7,61 21,8 8,14 9,38 5,54 3,55 3 0,01 0,01

river Uzh and its tributary before

0,22 0,3

the catastrophic flood in 2001 is

26.06.2001 17.10.2001

7,4

12,1 13,7

17,9 7,75

amount of of ingredients in the

0,2

6,02

is

3,2

indicators

0,025

hydrobiological

Latoritsa and Uzh. The typical

24.04.2001

0,15 4,3 11.03.2001

0,22 0,19 0,26 0,12 2,8 9 21 7,9 30.01.2001 24.04.2001 31.06.2001 17.10.2001

Т, С Date

0,38

0,46 0,002 0,18

0,002 0,001 0,001 0,001 0,004 0,003 0,007 0,002 0,013 0,002 0,002 0,001 0,006 0,002 0,003 0,001

Pb, mg/l Mn, mg/l Cr, mg/l Cu, mg/l

SurfaceNitri- Nitra- Chlo- SulfaOil pro Fe to ac ve -tal, tes, tes, rides, tes, рН -ducts, material, mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l The Uzh river 1km upper the vil.Volosianka 0,02 3,2 4,6 28 8,1 0 0,01 0,54 0,01 1,2 5,68 26 7,9 0,03 0,008 0,3 0,02 2,5 6,8 24,9 7,86 0 0,005 0,29 0,025 3 7,2 29,3 8,02 0 0,004 0,31 The Ulichanka river mouth 0,02 3 5,3 20,3 7,8 0,0025 0,52 NH4, mg/l о

Table 1. Joint informa on on chemical components in the river Uzh and its right tributary the Ulichanka (beginning in Slovakia).


observed near Chop. Similar holds for other transboundary rivers the

shown in the Table 1. During floods only a significant dilu on of pollutants by water (hundreds

significant deteriora on of the situa on. In these

of

mes)

prevents

mes, especially when

catastrophic floods are forming with the water outlet on the floodplain, sampling is conducted daily. Thus, in the period of catastrophic flood in March 3-8, 2001, the water quality of the rivers Tisza and Latorica in the alignment of Chop city the average data of the results of analyses of hydrochemical 31


Fig. 3-1. The dynamics of lead (Pb, mg/l) in the water in the range below the city of Tiachiv.

parameters (ammonium nitrogen, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, sulfates, dissolved oxygen) and specific indicators (phenols, oil products, heavy metals) corresponded only the III class of purity (moderately contaminated). What chemical compounds predominate in the normal rivers and streams of Transcarpathians? These are di erent forms of nitrogen, such as ammonia (0.05 to 0.6 mg/l), nitrite (0.01-0.06 mg/l), nitrate (3-7 mg/l), chlorides (4-30 mg/l), sulfates (12-35 mg/l), oil products (of 0-0.05 mg/l), detergents (0,002 to 0.030) on some parts tends to increase, phenols (0-0.01 mg/l) – last value is xed in the mouth of the river Shopurka and obviously associated with the funcƟoning of Veliko-Bychkivski integrated wood processing plant, and a number of metal salts. Of recent note is oŌen elevated 1.5-1.8 mg/l of iron content exceeds the MCL (0.3 mg/l), however, in some cases iron compounds 32


are able to neutralize the harmful effects of more dangerous salts of other metals, as iron toxicity is inferior to most of them and therefore it (and in some

places the high content of phenols) should not be considered as a very dangerous signal. More dangerous is the periodic excessive concentra ons of certain heavy metals, par cularly lead, which is observed in some areas (Fig. 3-

1).

33

4. Nature conservaƟon strategy and floof prevenƟon in Transcarpathians.

As far as Transcarpathians belongs to the European regions with excessive rainfall, there is always a poten al danger of floods there. But there is another reason that can causes catastrophic consequences. This is mi ga on of natural

mechanisms of preven on of catastrophic floods. It is especially forest management that should be taken into considera on between different cons tuents of natural regula on in the Carpathians region. A er the World War II especially star ng from 1949, unsystema c felling and grave viola ons of lumbering technologies had been taking place, when in the Carpathians forests all-round felling 2-3 mes beyond the scien fically substan ated quotas was applied. Mo va on of this ac vity – requires of ruined economy. For instance, up to independence of the Ukraine great amounts of wood was used in the coal-mining industry of the Donets Basin. Nevertheless, even at the period of Czechoslovaks republic at the beginning of 30th of the last century occurred the annual highest major harvests about 7500 ha. Another tragic fact occurred in 1995 when several hundreds of small and medium business en

es that lacked both sufficiently qualified specialists and

appropriate machinery for lumbering, were allowed into the forests. Curiously, but 100 years old technologies of lumbering, hauling and cla ering are much more spare for environment that "modern" caterpillar tractors etc. Nevertheless, they are s ll rarely used (Fig. 4-1). The most dangerous tendencies in Transcarpathians forestry are shown at * Based on the paper published in: Towards natural flood reduc on strategies. Interna onal Conference, Warsaw, 6-13 September 2003.

34


Cable installation 3%

Animal logging 9%

Wheeled tractor 34%

Caterpillar tractors 54%

Fig. 4-1. Types of hauling technologies used in state enterprises forests in 2002. (for the period of 1990-2000).

Fig. 4-2, 4-3. It should be noted, that usually harvest connected with forestry

does not exceed 25-30%, and present 54,2% for the Ukrainian forests in general (Forestry of the Ukraine, 2003) is a result of efforts to avoid necessary due. For instance, permanent forest users pay the use tax only from the major harvest

felling. Therefore, situa on in Transcarpathians forests (see the tendency a er 1999 – Fig. 4-2, 4-3), even against a background of all-state situa on, is extremely harmful. Not only the fact of felling has a significant nega ve impact upon strengthening of the surface ou low, nor even the cubic mass of the lumbered mber, but the methods of felling for merchantable wood (major harvest) with the use of high percentage of clear-cut felling, that lead to a huge dispropor on in loca on of the designed wood-cu ng areas and reducing of the forests’ water -regula ng func ons. Ra o of spare felling (step be step and selec ve) was too 35


2000 Calculated harvest for State Forest Enterprises lands

1800

General wood harvest

Thousand cubic meters

1600

Major harvest

1400

Harvest connected with forestry

1200 1000

800 600 400 200 0

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Fig. 4-2. Temporal changes in wood harvest by State enterprises. 1800

Calculated harvest in general for all forest users

1600

Major harvest in general General wood harvest

Thousand cubic meters

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

Fig. 4-3. Temporal tendencies of changes in general wood harvest in Transcarpathians (note increasing a er 1999 of general wood harvest to the level in Soviet Ukraine – 1990-1991). 36


low ll 2001 (Fig. 4-4), when one of the most catastrophic floods in modern history of Transcarpathians took place. But volume of major harvest ge ng from I-group forests (this group play the most important role in redistribu on of surface water flow) s ll increase. Furthermore, the area, where felling connected with forestry are undertaken, also increase (Fig. 4-5).

There are several base priorities of achievement of sustainable development in environment and community in Transcarpathians and in the whole Ukrainian Carpathians. These are (Rosoha, Kovalchuk, Polianovski et al., 2001): Step-by-step harmoniza on of increased requirements of society with nature by the way of all-round improvement of environment through conserva on and rehabilita on. Decreasing of amounts of contamina on of the environment, as it can produce some unexpected transboundary consequences.

Nature preserva on measures should be the concurrent part of programs aimed at the increasing of life standards of popula on. Wide publicity should understand that improving of life standards could

be achieved both by increasing of earnings and nature preserva on. Common understanding of transboundary coopera on with neighboring countries should comes as an important instrument in decreasing the catastrophic floods' level. All scale projects in transforma on of environment should get over the wide publicity assessment. Necessity of elabora on of efficient mechanisms of realiza on of all-state environment poli cal acts at the regional level. Strengthening and providing with37correspondent staff the environmental


140 120 100

Area of felling, ha

80 60 40 20

0 1997 1998 1999 Major harvest

2000 Step by step & selective felling

2001

Fig. 4-4. Temporal dynamic of spare felling against a background of major harvest in I-group forests. 20000

II group forests I group forests Area of activity, ha

15000

10000

5000

0 1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

Fig. 4-5. Temporal changes in areas ra o where felling connected with forestry was undertaken. 38


sciences that can solve the problems due to last year crisis phenomena. The most important conclusion from the above-declared principles is that territory of nature reserve fund should be exceeded up to 20-21% from today 13-14% of the whole territory of Transcarpathians (Kovalchuk, 2002 – in 2017 it

exceed about 16%). Especially important are transboundary objects as Uzhansky Na onal Nature Park, a part of interna onal

"East

Beskidy" Biosphere

Reserve, intended Regional Landscape Park "Prytysianskiy" on the border between the Ukraine and Hungary, and Romanian Biosphere Reserve in Marmorosian Massif of the Carpathians in the Upper Tisza reaches which is in crea on stage (Munţii maramureşului, 2000). As well more a en on should be paid to rehabilita on and renaturaliza on programs of wetlands and riversides. Today percentage of floodplain management expanses due to such measures is negligible. So, the Ac on Program for sustainable flood preven on in the Danube river basin (and the Tisza river sub-basin) – Dra

Scheme of important steps is now just

prepared – include 5 basic principles and approaches and No 4 is: nature conservaƟon, renaturalizaƟon and rehabilitaƟon of natural landscapes! Its a pity but practically all measures planned in "Scheme of complex anti-flood protection in the Tisza River Basin" (Annotation..., 2001) are technical, connected mainly with reconstruction or consolidation of

existent dams, polders, reservoirs (and other against flood volumes), river banks protecting structures, and/or building new. Interestingly that building of anti-flood volumes in accordance with the "Scheme..." will be done completely

on the base of the catchments areas of the rivers without any attention on possible precipitation level at the basin! Consequently, for the river Uzh five such volumes are planned. 39


But precipitation level in the valley of this river never exceeds 50-55 mm per rain (Kovalchuk et al., 2001) and catastrophic floods only due to wrong building up of the riverbanks and flood plain produced economic losses. Thus, we recommend elabora ng changes in forest management (as the most important cons tuent of efforts to mi gate catastrophic floods by natural measures!) at the territory of Transcarpathians. Especially high a en on should be paid on the areas of the highest possible precipita on level per rain (over 200 mm!). Through legisla ve changes these sites could obtain a legal status as Zone of na onal interest! Reference Annotation to "Scheme of complex anti-flood protection in the Tisza River Basin". – Uzhgorod: Oblvodhosp, 2001. – 37 p. (in Ukrainian).

Forestry of the Ukraine: Strategy of Development. –Kiev: Inter-departmental Analytical-consultative Council..., 2003. – 34 p. (in Ukrainian). Forestry of the Ukraine: Problems and Challenges. – Kiev: Inter-departmental Analitical-consultative Council..., 2003. – 177 p. (in Ukrainian). Kovalchuk A., Nikolaychuk V., Krochko J., Boiko M. The reasons of catastrophic floods in Transcarpathians and perspectives of their avoiding in future // Scientific Bull. Uzhgorod National University (Biol. Ser.). – No. 9. – 2001. – P. 5-20 (in Ukrainian). Kovalchuk A. Nature Reserve Science. – Lira: Uzhgorod, 2002. – Sec. Ed., revised & augmented. – 328 p. (in Ukrainian). Munţii maramureşului. Ed. Filip Moisei. – Baia Mare: Editura Echim, 2000. – 91p. Rosoha I., Kovalchuk A., Polianovskiy A. et al. Comprehensive nature protection – the most important preface of sustainable development of the Tizsa river basin // Scientific Bull. Uzhgorod National University (Econ. Ser.). – No. 9. – 2001. – P. 266-274 (in Ukrainian).

40

5. Problems of system control over using of forest resources...

5. PROBLEMS OF SYSTEM CONTROL OVER USING OF FOREST RESOURCES – BARRIER ON THE WAY OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CARPATHIANS CONVENTION*.

About our forests, their destruc on (that see the eyes of the average ci zen) or flourishing (says official sta s cs) wri en a number of scien fic and popular ar cles and books. Some of the facts. The territory of Ukraine covered

by forests, according to official figures, is 15.6 %. But in fact – less than 14 %. The preliminary figure was born in the bowels of the State Commi ee of forestry of the virtual manipula on of the scope of the concept of forest land

(forest cover). In any case, the forest area of Ukraine is completely inadequate for a European state. So, Finland has 66 % of the territory is covered by forests, Sweden is 55-56 %, Poland and France – 30 %, Hungary – more than 20 %. In the

Carpathians region is concentrated around 20-21 % of all forest lands of Ukraine. Without guidance in the field of forest management procedure of effec ve implementa on of the provisions of the Carpathians Conven on in

Ukraine is impossible. According to the report of the accoun ng chamber of Ukraine on the audit results of the effec veness of forest management in the Carpathians region of Ukraine (Kiev, 2004) “...the regional state administra ons is not ensured implementa on of the State program “Forests of Ukraine”, effec ve, efficient and environmentally balanced use of forest resources in the Carpathians region ”. And further: “The mechanism of public monitoring of compliance with forest and environmental legisla on forest users of all forms of ownership, is absent”. Let's try a li le touch basic schemes of a robbery of forest resources. * Based on the paper published in: All-Ukrainian ecological conference “Ukraine – first year a er 5-th European Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” May 26-27, Kyiv, 2004.

41


Logging techniques. The main abuses occur during felling of the “interim use” which has long been larger than logging by industrial logging, i. e. felling of the “main use”. This was discussed in the conclusions of the regional

scien fic Commission

for the

study

of the causes of catastrophic

floods in Transcarpathians. In Ukraine to this conclusion came as well the interdepartmental analy cal and consulta ve Council on ma ers of

development of the produc ve forces and produc on rela ons under the guidance of academician Igor Yukhnovsky. The problem is that logging of this type is not paid a “stub” fee! That's why a systema c reduc on of industrial

mber harves ng in the Carpathians region over the last years does not impact posi vely on the state of forest resources. If earlier, the greatest danger was “clear sanitary felling”, so now - “selec ve sanitary felling” (Fig. 5-1) and

“regenera on felling”. In the

Fig. 5-1. Selec ve sanitary felling in Uzhanskiy NNP and bed of the Paporotniy creek (Stuzhitsa vil., May 3, 2005). 42

mber cla ering in the river


course of these fellings the business mber is harvested in invalid amount, and o en in amounts that far exceed a specified mber harves ng cket. The worst

thing is that it is widely prac ced in na onal parks in viola on of Regula ons of Cabinet of Ministers No. 535 of May 16, 1996 “On approval of Rules of logging-related forest management, and other cu ng.” For example, in the “Synevyr” NNP income from logging is up to half a million hryvnia per year. Indirect ac vity. Significant noise in the regional press have done by the “Hun ng Safari” that was offered on the Internet site under the guise of this Park. Probably not without the knowledge of Park administra on, which did provide some services to shell Kiev-Kolochava firm – the organizer. The result? Compare the beasts that remained a er the such management of the administra on of the Park “Synevir” with NNP “Skolivski Beskydy”, Lviv region. So, in “Skolivski Beskydy” European bison – 10 individuals, o er – 18, 50 ermines, over 400 (!!!) deers, 260 roars, as much as 60 (instead of 22 as in the “Synevyr”) wild boars, 24 bears

(10 in the “Synevyr”), 14 wolves (6 in

“Synevyr”), and 19 lynx (9 in “Synevyr”). By the way, the area of “Skolivski Beskydy” is 35684 hectares, good under the “Synevir” – 42704 hectares, of which 32 thousand hectares of forests!!! Non-tradi onal forest users. Visitors of NNP “Skolivski Beskydy”, Lviv region, remains from the Park in general, a good impression (Fig. 5-2). With one excep on: from the top of decora on of the Park the mount Parashka offers gorgeous landscapes, and a giant felling, ac vity of the so-called “military forestry” (Fig. 5-3). Such forestry is in Transcarpathians as well. What has become of the once mighty forest, close to the tract “Vaidiv Lug” and ridge “Svityl’nyk” above of the castle of Nevitske, can make sure any impar al guard of the nature. Especially popular here the of sycamore and ash trees (Fig. 543


Fig. 5-2. The mountain “Parashka” ridge in NNP “Skolivski Beskydy”, Lviv province: nice place for recrea on and tourism (August 8, 2003).

Fig. 5-3. The clear wood-cu ng by the local military forestry from the top of the hill “Parashka” in NNP “Skolivski Beskydy”, Lviv province (August 8, 2003). 44


Fig. 5-4. Giant sycamore that was cut in the ridge “Svityl’nyk” above the castle of Nevitske (Summer 2001).

4). Poli cal scam. About 20% of forest resources of the country are concentrated within the NRF of Transcarpathians. Other resources are also considerable. Remember how the natural reserve Fund of Ukraine first was subordinated to the newly established according to the decree of the President of Ukraine № 1039/2003 the State Commi ee of natural resources of Ukraine, and then taken away (the Decree dated 6 March 2004). Thus it was forgo en to return all posts of stuff and new State service of reserves of Ukraine was part of only half a dozen people! Corrup on of the regulatory authori es. Some mes the reason that viola ons are not inves gated thoroughly is in the poor wages of the 45


inspectors, on which simply can not survive! Moreover exist bribing of guidence. Widely known is the scandal in the forest management department

of Transcarpathians (2004), where some state forestries appealed to the state administra on claims that they are constantly illegally demands money by the head of the Department! This takes place in monitoring organiza ons, namely,

“State department of environmental protec on” – SDEP (or before “Department of ecology and natural resources” – DENR) and their regional sec ons in the areas. Of course, not everywhere and not always the number of

infrigements is so frequent as in the Transcarpathians. However, the problem exists. For example, SDEP conduct a planned inspec on of forestry and exhibit more than 300 thousand of losses, then indicate in the final act of an amount

that is smaller (why would it?) ten mes. As a result, the State Treasury does not counts hundreds of thousands of hryvnia. Examples? Please! In 2003, the state forestry of Volivets Region of Transcarpathians had been planned tested

by the team of inspectors under the leadership of the first Deputy chief of the DENR. Accrued loss was less than 30 thousand hryvnias. A month later, a second check is carried out by the local district of Volivets regional inspec on

and the amount of about 330 thousand hryvnias damages were found! Viola ons of land legisla on. A well-known fact the construc on near the village of Zhdenievo of the object, known as “The estate of Medvedchuk” (a famous person in Ukrainian poli cs and godfather of kid of Russian President Vladimir Pu n) about 300 million hryvnia. Lands legally leased, and actually withdrawn from forestry for 50 years. Viola ons of land legisla on in this “investment project” outrageous! Even the formal approval of the regional Department of ecology and natural resources in the Transcarpathianns region for the construc on of this facility wasn’t. Got it retroac vely. 46


Fig. 5-5. The horrible look at wood-cu ng by Ust-Chornyanske SFHE a er the catastrophic flood in November 2001 – a possible result of such “economy” (from helicopter, December, 2001).

Viola on of the Water code. Talked a lot about riparian forests. Their gradual demoli on and the destruc on of floodplain areas is one of the main

reasons for the significant losses from catastrophic natural events such as flooding, lateral and bo om erosion, debris flows, landslides (Fig 5-5). Direct the . Steal everybody – from impoverished peasants who established draconic, in comparison with their income, and to Directors of state forestry or na onal parks. The author paid 1700 hryvnia (about 63 USD that is higher then normal pension of the peasant), per 4 m 3 of "stacked (piled) cubic meter" of beech wood last winter. Illegal wood felling is especially true for objects that are subordinate to the Ministry of environmental protec on, as they are systema cally underfunded. Although the law provides the increased 47


liability for the felled trees within the objects of Natural reserve fund, but the profit of the stolen exceeds the possible penalty. Mostly administra ve responsibility or a condi onal (suspended) sentence do not deterred thieves. The falsifica on of data. Known history from Ust-Chornyanskiy state forest hun ng enterprise (SFHE) in Transcarpathians province. Take the inspec on act of 12 April 2001. In it, in par cular, said “...the Commission came to the conclusion that there is a discrepancy in SFHE sta s cal repor ng and primary accoun ng informa on from the forestries”. There have also been exceeding the volume of the allowable cut in forests of the first group, the enormous illegal logging and other viola ons. On such facts it was opened a number of criminal cases. What? The Director of this company Ivan Soyma was removed, and then set to lead others SFHE - Mokryanskiy. Embezzlement. Here's a recent example from Transcarpathians. Buying

by DENR of the car “Mitsubishi” worth more than 90 thousands hryvnias in prices of 2004 (although the allowed costs of such events at this period – 40 thousands or about 8000 USD), which were given for a special purpose vehicle

(preferen al customs clearance!). Examina on has established that it is not a special vehicle, but a car which carries the head of Department. The thing about this deal was in the regional Prosecutor's office. However, got away.

Thus, the main obstacle to establishing order in the sphere of environmental management in General and forest management in par cular are embezzlement and corrup on of state Supervisory bodies at the local

level.

48

6. To the question of regional issues, state of the environment...

Global climate change – the greatest challenge and integral part of the

total global ecological crisis. A er all, our planet is gradually turning into a giant greenhouse, which “contributed” to the accumula on of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (methane, carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen). Although

they are constantly produced in a natural way, the increase of their concentraon in the atmosphere in recent mes is largely the result of anthropogenic factors. According to experts, since the beginning of the XIX century the con-

tent of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by more than 25%, nitrogen 8%, and methane has doubled. Moreover, as a result of human ac vies, new compounds are informed in the atmosphere is not met – halogens'

carbon. This increase in greenhouse gases affect the heat balance of the planet, causing the so called “the greenhouse effect” – is a property of the atmosphere to pass heat into space from the Earth, which may significantly alter the planet's climate. The Transcarpathians is a transboundary region that has a powerful impact by the economies of neighboring Central European States on the one hand and o en miserable managing of na ve Ukraine of the other hand, which is acvely a ached to the global nega ve impacts on the environment. Transcarpathians’ popula on is also witnesses in this process of globaliza on: winters have become not the same, and heavy rains increased and flooding in recent years has increased, and with catastrophic consequences.

* Based on the paper published in: Youth in addressing regional and transboundary environmental security: Proceedings of the II scien fic conference. Chernivtsi, May 14-15, 2003. – Chernivtsi: Publ. “Golden ke ledrums” (“Zolo lytavry”), 2003.

49


How is it possible to stop the enhanced greenhouse effect? The answer is simple: to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Some-

how, in the media emphasize the reduc on of CO2 emissions, the concentraon of which, according to forecasts, un l mid-XXI century, will increase by 230%. May be mass-media are much more familiar with this gas. Although the

Kyoto Protocol iden fies six major greenhouse gases of direct effect on the atmosphere. It is the carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2), hydrofluorocarbons, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Special a en on is paid to pure

carbon (C). It should be noted that nitrous oxide and methane respec vely 310 and 21 mes exceed the ability of CO2 in the “rela ve efficiency” of the crea on of the greenhouse effect. This has been discussed for more than two decades. Advice, predict and adopt interna onal documents – the uncondi onal recognion of the fact that can lead to tragedy on a global scale. But neither the Vienna Conven on for the protec on of the ozone layer 1985, neither the Montreal Protocol of 1987 of the problems of substances that deplete the ozone layer nor to the framework UN Conven on 1992 on climate change not protec ng the atmosphere even for a moment. It was assumed that even though the Kyoto Protocol is a world agreement to prevent global warming – will make posi ve adjustments. However, the recorded inten on to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7% below the 1990 level many experts agree is unrealis c. Since 1997, when this Protocol is adopted, not only any decrease in volumes of emissions isn’t noted, but on the contrary, have increased. In par cular, at present, their volume increased by 10% and the rate of its annual increase is 1.2%.

What do we have today with pollu on in Transcarpathians, let's try to an50


alyze below. The department of environment reports that the emissions compared to 2000 remains rela vely stable, the increase in emissions of liquid and

gaseous substances is compensated by the reduc on of emissions of hard substances. So, e.g., in 2000 the first group released into the atmosphere of 6.61 thousand tons, and in 2001 – 6.74 tons. The second group of emissions de-

creased from 1.11 thousand tons to 1.08 tones over the same period. But is it the same in 2017? I want to ask somebody from ci zens of the City of Uzhgorod: do you remember such situa on with vehicles even a few years ago? Look

at the transport bridge near the swimming pool: the queue is some mes over 1 km (Photo 6-1). Moreover, no enough efforts of local officials to improve the situa on. Can you

imagine that no one underground passage exist in

Transcarpathians province! It turned out that in Ukraine the average age of registered vehicles is nearly

20

Photo 6-1. Transport collapse on the upper bridge over the river Uzh old. At that in Uzhgorod (May, 2017).

years me

the term of opera-

on of cars in Europe rarely exceed 8 years (h ps://politeka.net/440384). More than half of the 9.1 million vehicles in Ukraine was released in the days of the USSR. It is a real rarity. About 20% of the cars produced before 51


1985. Mass brands Auto — VAZ, GAZ, ZAZ, and Volkswagen. Thus, at present, in Ukraine there is a tendency that the average age of cars in the country will con nue to increase. This is due to the crisis and lack of means Ukrainians have to buy a new car (Ibid.). The very bad state of ways in Ukraine is well known (Photo 6-2, 6-3). Even enough important roads like of province or state importance are cri cized. Traffic regula ons should be improved as well. Ukraine was the only coun-

try in the world where the circle movement has no obligatory priority in our roads. E.g., the square of Bogdan Khmelnitsky in Uzhgorod with extremely intensive traffic (Photo 6-4) has no complete priority of a circle movement and a

lot of vehicles are standing in a circle producing jams and accidents. The trend of increasing of air pollu on occurs primarily from sta onary sources whose emissions rose by 1.3%. This number – most of the

“achievement” of enterprises belonging to the SE “Ukrtransgaz”, NJSC “Na ogaz Ukrainy” (54.3% of the total emissions from sta onary sources) that increased the volume of transported gas, carried out the repair work during

the reconstruc on on compressor sta ons of “Svalyava” and “Uzhgorod” and linear parts. Given to the word, hea ng systems (using the “bare” pipe) in Uzhgorod add their share to air pollu on, losing “by the way” to the des naon for about 60% of the heat. This, in turn, waste of a natural resource, means of the popula on for hea ng and addi onal emissions. It is obvious that extreme risks are the system of main gas pipelines, oil pipelines and ethylene pipeline of associa on “Chlorvinil”, from which by evapora on into the atmosphere are penetrated the products of decomposi on with heavy metals and carbon toxic compounds. In addi on to the above ob52


Photo 6-2. Poor quality road for the village Tsiganivtsi in Uzhgorod city (May, 2017).

Photo 6-3. Ar ficial “pond” in Granitna street in Uzhgorod city (June 1, 2017).

53


jects, the main sta onary air pollutants in the region are the

enterprises of the Ministry of transport (11.1 %), forestry (4.3 %) and consumer commu-

ni es (3.9 %). A leader among suppliers in the atmosphere destruc ve substances

remains

road

transport, the emissions from which in 2001 amounted to 70.1% of the total amount of Photo 6-4. Unusual circle traffic behind the lower transport bridge over the river Uzh in Uzhgorod (May, emissions into the air and grew 2017).

in comparison with 2000 by 16.3%. For instance, at the beginning of 2004, according to sta s cs, in the area, there were 142.5 thousand vehicles. Should add the private and transit traffic. So, just over 200 thousand in the province. In Uzhgorod for 126 thousand popula on are 27 thousand transport units. Today (2017) it is supposed much more than 30 thousand, as cars with foreign registra on are calculated hardly ever (Photo 6-5). In addi on, not all vehicles emit the same amount of gas - the more years the car, the higher the content of toxic substances in exhaust gases. The lion's share of harmful substances into the air is from using poor quality fuels and lubricants (Photo 6-6). “Logical” applica on to the above are the emissions from petrol sta ons. Harmful substances get into the environment at the me when the oil products

are delivered by the tank-truck vehicles and discharged into the tank of gas sta54


Photo 6-5. Private cars with foreign registra on on parking in Koriatovicha square in Uzhgorod (May, 2017).

ons. Emissions are formed as well from the storage tanks, and at the me of refueling the car. The situa on is complicated when sta ons are located close to each one (which is observed in Uzhgorod & Mukachevo ci es) - then the im-

pact on the environment of harmful substances may increase two or more mes. To take control of the problem of atmospheric pollu on by motor transport try the traffic police and the state eco-inspec on, who jointly carried out the opera on “Clean air”. Just trying. Because really to affect a situa on they can't: first, because of the lack of necessary control and measuring devices, secondly, the ac on have taken sporadic, only twice a year in 2000-2005 (for two weeks in May and October). Today control is absent completely. Today even the technical condi on of every vehicle isn’t controlled sys55


tema cally (Photo 6-6). This was the conclusion brought the

results of the “implementa on” of the order of the Chairman of regional state administra on

No. 318 of 4.09.1997, “On measures for the preven on and reduc on of air pollu on

for motor vehicles and other mobile facili es and installaons”. This should be elaborat-

ed monitoring system of ecological

condi on

of

motor

transport by crea ng a system

of sta onary and mobile diag-

Photo 6-6. The truck with old diesel engine and its exhaust gas emissions in Granitna street in Uzhgorod nos c sta ons. Up to date this (May, 2017).

work has been successfully

“buried” by the ini a ve approach of public servants and departmental orders. “Highlights” by the work of traffic police. Between 1997 and 2002 in Transcarpathians was checked 75880 cars. Environmental effec veness of reduced emissions from road transport in the environment at 8169 tones (not included in the emissions of benzopyrene, phenols, aldehydes, and other components, all of which is 0.2%). Economic – fuel economy is 3169 tons (calcula on is based on that one car for a year that runs about 10 thousand km, while burning 1 ton of gasoline). By the way, 1 ton of gasoline when the internal combus on engine is used 13.5 tons of air, or about 56


4 tons of oxygen. Provided savings of 3169 tons of gasoline can save of 42781 tons of the air, and in terms of the oxygen – 12767 tons. Burning of motor oil and gasoline exhausts of cars running on leaded fuel, among others, another extremely dangerous compound. We are talking about highly resistant organic pollutant dioxin. Contribu on to climate change of natural chemical processes in the condi ons of landfill is a separate topic of conversa on. What and how much pollute the air by landfill area – no one really never knows. In the province exist 331 areas of waste alloca on with a total area of 182.2 ha. But it absolutely can not show the real picture because of unauthorized dumps are ten mes more, and accordingly they occupy areas several mes more. One of the main problems associated with the disposal of waste, – the forma on of so-called landfill gas. At the burial of organic ma er (which in the garbage weighing an average of 50 to 70%) is its bioconversion with par cipa on of microorganisms. According to es mates of the expert group of the Intergovernmental IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change conducted in the mid1990s, global emissions of landfill methane is 40 million tons per year, or about 8% of its total emission. For comparison, this value exceeds the mass of methane, which is extracted in coal mines.

In addi on to a significant contribu on to climate change, landfill gas contributes to the crea on of explosive and flammable condi ons at the landfills and on objects near them. Fires at landfills, in turn, pose a great environmental

danger. In the structure of household waste increasing the propor on of polymer materials (around 60% ), increased toxicity (fall in the trash thermometers, devices containing mercury, ba eries, whereby it is “enriched” with salts of

57


heavy metals and chemicals). Therefore, the uncontrolled burning of landfills leads to the forma on and release to the atmosphere toxic compounds, includ-

ing indefinite that is transferred over long distances. In short, there is much to ponder, and something to work on. The best way to protect the atmosphere is to introduce stringent penal es for harming the environment and maximum permissible norms of emissions of pollutants. Do not understand, by the way, the posi on on this ques on of the Ministry of ecology and natural resources of Ukraine, which canceled a five-fold the penales for non-payments into Fund of protec on of the environment. Although environmental protec on is not just pollu on control. This upbringing and lifestyle, and way of thinking. What measures are being taken in Transcarpathians to reduce regional contribu ons to climate change?

1. The prac cal implementa on of ar cle 17: “Measures concerning the preven on and reduc on of air pollu on by emissions of transport and other vehicles and the influence of produced physical factors” of the law of Ukraine

“On protec on of atmospheric air”. 2. The start-up of the “Integrated programme for the collec on, transport, disposal and recycling of solid household waste in Transcarpathians

region”. 3. Investments into ecological and environmental sector, using the opportuni es of Joint Economic Zone “Transcarpathians” and the law of Ukraine “On special regime of investment ac vity in Transcarpathians region”. Thus, only the consistent implementa on of the adopted laws and bylaws, regula ons and bringing exis ng legisla on in line with EU legisla on will 58


prevent further deteriora on of environmental situa on in the region that poses a threat not only to popula on and the nature of the area, but for our Central European neighbors. References

1. h ps://politeka.net/440384-ukrainskie-avtomobilisty-ustanovili-an rekord/

59

7. The ecological situaƟon and measures for improvement of the environment in Transcarpathians: eco-educaƟon.

Published in 1990 (27 years ago!), in Washington the annual report on the state of the world environment by Worldwatch Ins tute states that mankind annually emits more than 5 billion tons of substances, an annual soil loss is 600 million tones, including 20 million tons of humus. Annually 500-700 kg of nutrients is lost per hectare that is 2 mes more, than applying fer lizers. A resident of Ukraine has 4 mes less freshwater resources than in the United States. Damage from soil erosion every year is about 0.5 billion USD; loss of net income – 0.25 billion USD. Up to date the situa on doesn’t improved notably. Unfortunately, air pollu on is the main contributor to the greenhouse effect, and as a result the water in the ocean has risen by 10-15 cm due to mel ng glaciers. If these trends are not reversed, then humanity faces an imminent disaster.

In the struggle to preserve life on Earth plays an important role the overall culture, in par cular of eco-culture, which you can improve by eco-educa on and educa on of the whole popula on. It is very difficult to eliminate eco-

illiteracy. Eventually, to get rid of it is not just wish of those who are responsible for economic and scien fic-technical policy, who owns or manages the produc on of goods, which has a detrimental effect on nature. The World

"Charter for the protecƟon of nature" which was adopted by the XIV General * Based on the paper published in: Materials of scienti c-practical conference held in Uzhgorod (Transcarpathians) September 29 - October 1, 2000. – Kyiv (Ukraine): All-Ukrainian Environmental League, 2000. – P. 56-59.

60


Assembly of IUCN, held on 26 October 1978. in Ashgabat stated that knowledge on environment should be widely popularized through all possible ways. In 1987, the world Commission on environment and development published the report “Our common future”, where was submi ed the concept of eco-sustainable society. It was noted that the concept of sustainable development is s ll new in some details and full of contradic ons, and the strategy for its implementa on in prac ce is s ll being developed. According to scien sts, sustainable development can be considered a process that should take place in four areas: economic, humanitarian, environmental and technological. Eco-upbringing and eco-educa on are reshaping the thinking and consciousness of people in the aspect of man's rela onship to nature. As one might expect, it needs a system of measures, which would encompass a comprehensive program for the person literally from birth and throughout life. Even more important is eco-educa on of children in preschools and youth in schools, enterprises, higher and secondary special educa on ins tu ons. Unfortunately, there is s ll no necessary methodical developments of ecoeduca on at all levels. In the same way it isn’t quite clear why the school programs include only “Ecology” but no “Preserva on of Nature”. Usually even in Higher EducaƟon InsƟtuƟons (HEIs) planning courses for nature protec on is not ensured by good teaching manuals that are profoundly elaborated on the scien fic basis. Moreover, frequently lectures themselves are teaching students not having enough special experience and even not being qualified scien sts at all. For instance, qualified lecturing for students at the biological faculty of Uzhgorod na onal university is rather rare (Photo 7-1).

At all mes one of the main tasks of the state, society was and is the 61


Photo 7-1. Demonstra on of sampler MB-TE-M at field lecture in Hydrobiology for students of zoology specializa on on flood plain pond of the river Uzh (Feb. 2004).

educa on of the younger genera on. In the opinion of the prominent Czech educator Jan Amos Comenius (The Great Didac c, 1896), man is part of Nature

and it must develop according to the laws of nature: “ ... man, under the guidance of nature, can penetrate to a knowledge of all things” (p. 43). The only true founda on of human knowledge is the percep on of the

environment. Studying history, for example, students can read the enormous changes that human civiliza on has made in nature. In chemistry class can tell the students about the objec ves of ra onal use of inorganic raw materials, the

protec on of the purity of atmospheric air and water bodies, on the impact of pes cides on the environment. In the course of physics – about the dangers of radioac ve pollu on, on the effects caused by these gene c muta ons.

62


Very topical is the ac ve involvement of the popula on to nature protec on, like a spending by children in the Danube days (Photo 7-2 a, b). For

this it is necessary first of all to improve the quality of the educa onal process and extracurricular ac vi es for nature protec on, as well as to improve training and retraining of teachers. Important is the development of scien fic

and technical crea vity of managerial and engineering personnel in enterprises, factories, laboratories for the greening of engineering and technology, a ract and encourage them to be inven ve and innova ve ac ve. overall should to

emphasize that there are high hopes for the Museums of Nature as built at the Carpathians biosphere reserve, which plays an important role in forming the environmental mo va on of visitors. For the implementa on of eco-educa on can use the organiza onal-roleplaying game. It should form an ac ve posi on of the personality, the desire to develop the skills to design specific programs of environmental nature, referring to such an ac ve method like “business games”. You should think also about what the child from birth surrounded by toys represen ng animals and birds, first drawings about it. So why grow children who break trees and shrubs or cut out the names or “hearts”, abused animals and destroy nests of birds?

Children need to be told repeatedly that all living beings have a right for life and that without them our lives would not be complete. It is necessary that each pupil or student is treated with a sense of protest and disgust to any

destruc on of the animal or bird, protec ng every tree, flower. A er all, the division into useful and harmful species is very harmful of itself. We know from history there are many cases that species that previously belonged to the

category of undesirable shrubs or herbs have become extremely useful. 63


Photo 7-2 a, b. The Danube days in Stuzhitsa village (Veliko-Bereznianskiy District), held by the author and colleagues hydrobiologists: a – the upper photo—Dr. Natalia Kovalchuk demonstrates the larvae of aqua c insects, b – the lower photo – modelling by kids of water protecve construc ons (June 20, 2005). 64


Such examples vividly described in the famous book by David W. Ehrenfeld, “The arrogance of humanism” (Chapter “The conserva on's

dilemma“). So, it was reported in 1975 that jojoba bean Simmondsia chinensis (Link) C. K. Schneid. or the desert shrub which grows in the American SouthWest, is very similar to the proper es of oil from the sperm whale, one of the

materials through which these animals are ruthlessly exterminated (p. 181). Actually, this is an example that can provide economic botany and economic zoology for the conserva on of nature. Today, interest in business-aspects of the game covers a variety of sides of pedagogy, the development of certain sectors of the economy, the field of medicine. Long me ago, in 1988, in the Transcarpathians region was held, as we think, successfully, “business game” on the assessment of trends in the development of the economy of our province in the near and distant future. The dialogue that happened during the game, contributed to the development of new approaches, methods and tools explana on of the development opportuni es in our region recrea on industry. In the development of the na onal economy organically included such important issues as the ra onal use, restora on and conserva on of the region. Great importance in promo ng of the conserva on and ins lling the love of nature should have excursions into nature and protected areas. Such travelers should be well prepared and conducted by the specialist with the help of the staff of object.

Another direc on may be the announcement of the all-Ukrainian contest for the best gradua on project, master's thesis, a book on issues of environment. The announcement of the compe

on for the best University,

the Department, and the lecturer for contribu ons to environmental 65


protec on ac vi es. The last step in environmental educa on is working with the ac ve part of the popula on. This stage is one of the hardest, but most effec ve because we are o en dealing with people who because of their posi on in society may significantly affect the nature. Forms of environmental educa on at this stage are quite diverse. For instance, it's interviews, seminars, theme par es, organiza on of classes or courses on environmental educa on. This integrated approach can be a model in future produc ve work on ecological educa on of the popula on. We think that this work should be distributed to workers in all sectors of the economy. Such seminars (courses) can be held in each region with the involvement of their organiza ons experienced biologists, leading experts of forest and hun ng farms. Obviously it was

me for the opening in HEIs the Department of

environment that will combine conserva on, ecology and wilderness protec on. Such a Department could provide scien fic-research work on the study of natural resources, to ac ve advocacy on environmental issues, but also to promote the rise of the eco-culture of the popula on. However, we see completely different trends. For example, in Uzhhorod na onal University was even closed access to research funding of

environmental projects. It was actually destroyed a very promising direc on for studying the consequences for the nature of construc on of small hydropower plants in the Carpathian rivers, which had been developed at the Department

of Zoology. The need for funding environmental projects and publica ons is completely ignored by the rector of Uzhgorod na onal University, Professor V. Smolanka. Otherwise as misunderstanding cannot be called the personnel

policy of this chief. 66


Great importance to nature conserva on play a television program. An example would be the existence in Transcarpathians for such a program called "Shovkova kosytsya" systema cally broadcast once in two months from 1968 to 1996. Now nothing like this in TV and radio broadcas ng on the territory of the Carpathian region, except for some Internet blogs that exist due to enthusiasts. It is necessary to publish popular works, high quality leaflets, posters, as is done in all civilized countries, including our neighbors of Slovaks, Hungarians, Poles. Why are there s ll so few beau fully published books for children about Carpathians nature? Such works could gradually shape the worldview of the next genera on. Environmental organiza ons like the Carpathian eco-club 'Ruthenia', some other NGOs becoming a li le ac ve and generally closed. The last

government announced re-registra on of non-profit organiza ons in General is a tendency to put an insurmountable barrier on their ac vi es. Commitment to preserva on of na ve wildlife should be an important element of educa on and training of scouts as the all-Ukrainian youth movement, because love of the na ve nature is means to be a patriot. As an example, can cause the all-Ukrainian eco-educa onal camp “OIKOS”, which for many years held on the territory of the Carpathians biosphere reserve and Carpathians NNP. Thanks to the produc ve coopera on of representa ves of the state educa onal ins tu ons, public organiza ons, administra ons and researchers of environmental ins tu ons has become possible to conduct a tented eco-camps at the na onal level.

For the Carpathians region the base bio-complex is a forest with all 67


species diversity of its flora and fauna. Tradi onal close cohabita on of humans and forest ecosystems today requires high eco-culture, the forma on of a nonprofit merchandising rela onship to the forest. It should be noted that in the last decades in the Carpathians region have been commi ed many crimes in forestry. Right on main felling are performed annually in full, which wich cannot say about plan ng. Every year “Not enough” me to perform the func ons of the thinning of the forest. The directors of Na onal parks not only of Transcarpathians, but the whole Ukraine turned them into some business projects. Compe

ons for posi ons of directors of

these parks are formal and not transparent. Not one of them involved serious scien sts with experience in environmental work. This leads to reduced produc vity of forests, reducing its protec ve func ons and in the end new mudslides, floods. Another problem is the export of wood with a slightly forested country, which is Ukraine. Obvious is the pressure on Ukraine a er the ban on

mber exports from the European Union that is not interested in

logging their forest, but tolerate the destruc on of the green lungs of Europe, which are the Carpathians forests in Ukraine. Reference Comenius J. A. The Great Didactic. – London: Adam & Charles Black, 1907. – 316 p. Ehrenfeld D. W. The arrogance of Humanism. – Oxford-NY-Toronto-Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1981. – 286 p.

68

8. InternaƟonal cooperaƟon in the field of nature conservaƟon...

8. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN THE FIELD OF NATURE CONSERVATION AS AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARDS EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OF UKRAINE*.

When planning events and discussing issues and areas of interna onal coopera on the main a en on in most cases paid to the economic bloc. However, prac cal coopera on in the environmental sphere is not less important, especially now, when some manifesta ons of catastrophic natural

phenomena, and accidents in industrial facili es o en possess an interstate character. Indeed, nature knows no boundaries. That's why geographical and poli cal loca- on of Transcarpathians, which is located in the center of Europe

and has borders with four other countries that just enter the EU, obliges to use all opportuni es of our region to improve interna onal coopera on and to promote European integra on aspira ons of our state, including in environmental

ac vi es. In Transcarpathians there are two main organiza ons which depend on interna onal coopera on, the State Department of environment and natural resources in the Transcarpathians region (name is changing due to poli cal situa on in the country) and the Department of entomology and Biodiversity of the Biological faculty of Uzhgorod na onal University. If the first Agency is the state administra on, the Department of entomology was up to date the most powerful applied scien fic structure, that can effec vely complement analy cal and control ac vi es of state Administra on for ecology and natural resources. These two organiza ons are coopera ng with other States in the following key areas: coopera on on issues of water management; scien fic and prac cal coopera on; * Based on the paper published in: Proceedings of the interna onal conference on problems of rivers of the Ob-Irtysh basin. The conference was held in June 18-21, 2003, Ust-Kamenogorsk (Russia), 2003. – P. 33-36. 69


coopera on in the establishment of transboundary environmental protecon facili es; par cipa on in the development of departmental orders and other instruments for interna onal coopera on.

7.1. CooperaƟon on water and forestry economy. The state administra on of the Dep. of eco-resources in this sector according to the instruc ons of the Ministry of Ukraine on the basis of signed bi-

lateral intergovernmental agreements: Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Slovak Republic on coopera on on issues of water management in fron er

waters, signed on 14 June 1994. in Bra slava; Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and Government of Hungarian Republic in coopera on on issues of water management in fron er waters, signed November 11, 1997, in Budapest; Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of Romania on coopera on in the field of water management in fron er waters, signed on 30 September 1997, in Gala . What is the subject of these agreements? For example, the main compo-

nent of the agreement Ukraine – Hungary are: “the Procedure at the UkrainianHungarian border sampling of basins, defini ons, assessment of water quality and performing the required ac ons in emergency pollu on”. The established order corresponds to the modern interna onal agreements currently in force, describes in detail the method of water quality assessment and ac on on the elimina on of the emergency consequences of pollu-

70


on of transboundary waters. The ques on is relevant for Transcarpathians, because in the last 20 years the accidental pollu on of water bodies in the re-

gion happened quite o en. Remember, though, pollu on by cyanides and heavy metals from the territory of Romania, which occurred as a result of accidents at mining facili es in the ci es of Baja Mare and Baja Borsa, which result-

ed in mul million losses of a number of the near Tisza countries, including Ukraine . We should not forget also about dangerous natural processes. Recall, the

floods of 1994, 1998 and 2001. If the losses from the first of these floods was in the range of Transcarpathians are "only" 50 million UAH, from the last two in the amount of almost half a billion! The “big water” went to our neighbors – the Hungarians, Slovaks and Romanians making several damages in nature and near the Tisza areas. It is clear that this was made necessary conclusions, namely, that it is now ra onal use of water resources, their conserva on, preven on of water pollu on of the Tisza river basin and implementa on of quality control of these waters should be an integral part of na onal policy and environmental strategies all the near Tisza countries. It is also obvious that the effec veness of the quality protec on of transboundary waters of the Tisza river from pollu on depends on the joint efforts and coordina on of necessary measures between neighboring countries and can be significantly higher through further improving of the forms and methods of mul lateral coopera on. An example of frui ul coopera on is the Ukrainian-Hungarian interacons. So, in 1998 the Hungarian and Ukrainian experts developed a common “Procedure at the Ukrainian-Hungarian border waters of sampling, defini ons,

assessment of water quality and performing the required ac ons in emergency 71


pollu on”, which became the main Annex to the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Hungary. With the

introduc on of this order into effect almost eliminated the pre-exis ng problems in the coopera on between the two countries on the protec on of boundary waters. Under this arrangement annually in border cross-sec ons of the riv-

er Tisza in areas between se lements Vilok - Tiszabecs and Chop - Záhony selected 24 water sampling sites, 4 of them in parallel on the territory of Ukraine and on the territory of the Republic of Hungary. The running tests are carried

out in close coordina on, and jointly according to the accepted methods. So, in 2002, had been held two working mee ngs of experts from both par es on the joint determina on of water quality indicators and the expert group mee ng on

prepara ons for the mee ng of the Commission on the protec on of crossborder water quality for the previous 2001. In 2001, a similar procedure was developed by experts of Ukraine and the Slovak Republic, which was submi ed to the commissioners of the governments of these countries for approval. According to the agreement between the Government of Ukraine and Government of Slovak Republic on water management on boundary waters, and pursuant to the protocols of the mee ngs of the Ukrainian-Slovakian Commission on border waters, the state administra on of Dep. of eco-resources in conjunc on with the environmental authori es of the Slovak Republic agreed 44 sampling sites on the river Uzh, Latoritsa, Tisza (in our territory), Ublia, Ulichka (star ng on the Slovak territory), in 5 the joint sec ons according to the approved plan. Based on the results of analyses to agreed procedure is determined by assessment of water quality in the transboundary sec ons of the rivers men oned above. Thus, the problems that arose in the beginning of coopera on with Hun72


gary and Slovakia (the river basins of the Tisza, Uzh, and Latoritsa) now are not on the agenda. S ll does not meet modern requirements for coopera on in the protecon of cross-border water quality with environmental services of Romania. We also launched a comprehensive study of the biota of transboundary watercourses, that is, the species content of hydrobionts (aqua c organisms), the structure of their groups, func onal ac vity, role in processes of selfpurifica on of water. Gradually developing coopera on in this direc on between Slovak scien sts from Pryashevsky University and Hydroecological society “Uzh”. Some colleagues from Uzhgorod and Lviv na onal Universi es are also involved in such work. This contacts allowed, for example, to conduct a taxonomic revision of the fishes inhabi ng the water bodies of Transcarpathians, using modern gene cs methods, and to obtain data on the processes of transforma on of organic ma er in waters of different type. Good prospects for possible coopera on exists with Austrian scien sts in the study of a few dozen of the Carpathians lakes of the mountains highlands. It

is clear the great importance of such lakes in the development of interna onal tourism and recrea on. Without detail dwelling on the problems of forestry of the Transcarpathi-

ans and interna onal experience within its jurisdic on, we note only that there is a frui ul coopera on of the Province with various Swiss ins tu ons for forest management, in par cular modern methods of care and use of forests. On the

agenda is a project financed by the World Bank. Such coopera on, especially at the prac cal level – in modern exploita on and reforesta on – is planned also with the Austrian colleagues. This project was named “Carpatyland” and de-

73


signed for a long period (over 35 years).

6.2. ScienƟfic and pracƟcal cooperaƟon. Scien fic and prac cal coopera on can be the exchange of experience of individual employees of the state Administra on of Dep. of eco-resources, nongovernmental organiza ons and biological facul es of Uzhgorod, Lviv, IvanoFrankivsk and other neighboring Universi es, and other agencies related to the conserva on of nature and on the level of working groups, which are created with the emergence of cross-border problems, official delega ons involved in interna onal forums like conferences, congresses etc., joint projects and programmes. In terms of exchange of experience only in the last 2-3 years the staff of state Administra on for ecology and natural resources par cipated in internaonal mee ngs and conferences in Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, UK, Romania, USA and other countries of the world. In par cular, the situa on a er the accidents at the mining enterprises of Romania (March 2000) the issue of resolving situa ons was studied by the leadership of the state administra on

on the spot. There is certain progress in the establishment of interna onal coopera on of researchers of the non-governmental organiza ons that are formed mainly

from scien sts that are representa ves of biological facul es of the Carpathians Universi es. A er all, they have established close partnerships with colleagues from Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Slovakia, Poland, USA. West Ukrainian sci-

en sts par cipate in the representa ve forums in Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Austria, Swiss and other countries of the world, and their achievements came in handy, for example, to create environmental programs and programs

74


for sustainable development of the countries of the Tisza basin. An important direc on of interna onal coopera on was and remains the implementa on of projects under the TACIS programme. Example of successful execu on of such a project is: “Transboundary monitoring and assessment of water quality of the rivers Western Bug, Latoritsa / Uzh”. In the long term will increase the role of coordina on of the inspec on ac vi es of neighboring countries. A er all, the simplifying of the border regime led to the viola ons of environmental law by illegally entering into the territory of neighboring states by ci zens of other states. Such a fact happened, for example, in August 2001, near vil. Bigan of Beregovo district, where Hungarian ci zens were illegally chopped down trees of white acacia. Essen al is to ensure compliance with environmental safety in the Central Euroregion has the effec ve opera on by the Ecological Control Service (ECS)

on the state border of Ukraine. This service was established in Transcarpathians due to the implementa on of the presiden al Decree of Ukraine “About the complex program of development of the state border of Ukraine” and in ac-

cordance with the Resolu ons of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 1995. The main task of the ECS is to prevent illegal movement across the state border of Ukraine of controlled goods and environmental control, such as: Vehicles; cargo dangerous to the environment and human health (radia on, toxic substances, etc.); means of protec on of plants, s mulators of their growth, fer lizers; all species of wild animals, aqua c resources and plants, zoological, botan-

75


ical, mineralogical collec ons of hun ng trophies. It was assumed to provide environmental control in 17 transmission on the basis of exis ng interna onal crossings. Within approved staffing levels as of 2001 in Zakarpa ya Province (Transcarpathians) worked 74 state inspectors of Dep. of eco-control at the state border and were equipped 8 specialized points on official checkpoints and two internal posts. In connec on with the compliance with the current legisla on more than 2 thousand tons of cargo had been detained, more than 400 tons of cargo were returned back at the state border for the last 2 years by Dep. of eco-control. It is also impossible to overes mate the efforts of inspectors at the border to prevent the atmospheric air pollu on in Central Europe. For example, during 2000 and 2001 on the owners of vehicles for air pollu on 720 protocols are composed.

During 1999-2001, there is a trend of importa on into the territory of Ukraine of hazardous waste. So, at the end of November 2000, a shipment of pigments in the amount of 4.5 tons was detained by the state inspectors of the

checkpoint “Tisza”. The background radia on of the load is 6 mes higher than permissible norms, which operate in Ukraine. Moreover, this burden not only crossed the ocean but the whole of Europe, and was discovered only at the

checkpoint “Tisza”.

7.3. CooperaƟon in the establishment of transboundary environmental conservaƟon faciliƟes. An extremely promising form of coopera on with neighboring countries is the establishment of bilateral and mul lateral objects of natural reserve areas.

Significant prac cal experience in this field acquired by the state Depart76


ment of natural resources, other conserva on organiza ons in the crea on of trilateral biosphere reserve “Eastern Carpathians” (Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia),

part of which is from Ukraine Uzhansky na onal nature Park. It should be noted that a significant obstacle to the coordina on of joint ac ons of different parts of the biosphere reserve is the introduc on of a visa regime with Ukraine from

Slovakia and a similar event from Poland a er entering the EU. But this does not restrain further steps in the establishment of the European ecological network. Moreover now Ukraine has a chance to get the free visa regime from EU. On the agenda is the establishment of a joint conserva on project of the Ukrainian-Romanian biosphere reserve “Marmarosky (Hutsul) the Alps” within the framework of Marmorosch mountain range of the Rakhiv district, with an area of approximately 35.0 thousand ha, of which 10.0 thousand hectares in the Carpathian biosphere reserve are preparing for the conserva on. The Carpathian biosphere reserve also prepared a project for submission for a grant under the TACIS program for this purpose. Common bilateral nature reserve object also planned to be established with Hungary. From the Ukrainian side on the first stage it will be the regional landscape Park “Pri sianski” (Near-Tisza). From Hungarian – a number of sites of similar rank of Szatmár-Beregovo District of Hungary. Appropriate representa on from the Hungarian colleagues for the State service of reserves of Ukraine have already been made.

7.4. ParƟcipaƟon in the development of departmental orders and other instruments on internaƟonal cooperaƟon. As a rule, Ukrainian experts are involved in the development of dra bilateral and mul lateral trea es as well as rulings or instruc ons of the Ministry of

77


ecology and natural resources of Ukraine concerning coopera on with the neighboring countries. Significant progress was made in developing a compre-

hensive or special environmental programmes of the region of the Tisza. An example would be the par cipa on of specialists of state Administra on for ecology and natural resources in the Transcarpathians region and interested organ-

iza ons to develop environmental programme for the Tisza basin, as well as programs of sustainable development for this region. An important poten al area of coopera on is the harmoniza on of the regulatory framework for air pollu on. One of the issues requiring a speedy solu on is the introduc on of the state standard for the pollutant content in the exhaust gases of diesel passenger cars because it is a necessary step on the way to the European Union. It will be an effec ve conserva on measure for protec on of atmospheric air of the Carpathians region. For example, Hungary in the use of EU experience in the protec on of atmospheric air has achieved over the last 6-7 years the 7 mes reduc on of harmful emissions into the atmosphere.

7.5. Involvement in internaƟonal environmental cooperaƟon of the General publicity through parƟcipaƟon in non-governmental organizaƟons . The fall of the “iron curtain” and appearance of the environmental movement of Ukraine on the European arena led to the emergence of such organizaons in Transcarpathians. One of the first appeared an Associa on of scien stsbiologists Carpathian Eco-club Ruthenia, which account for dozens of completed interna onal projects, especially high-tech. Its a pity that it stopped its ac vity now. Many years of experience in the field of educa on, including the popu78


lariza on of foreign experience, is the Union of Uzhgorod teachers “ECOEX”. A significant contribu on towards European integra on had made a non-

governmental conserva on organiza on staff of the Carpathian biosphere reserve “Karpaty”. We note in par cular their efforts in the program “The Ini ave of the Carpathians Euroregion”. Up to date enough ac vely working the

Hydroecological society “Uzh” (Uzhgorod), especially in implementa on of the EU's Renewable energy direc ve. We cannot list the ac vi es of all organiza ons of environmental orientaon, but should note that regardless of dile an sm of some of their members in environmental disciplines, they have an enormous role in communica ng to the ci zens of the Carpathians region about the European values, a healthy environment in accordance with the decisions of the UN Conferences in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Johannesburg in 2002, the provisions of the Conven on on the rights of the people to informa on on the environment and other internaonal legal instruments. Thus, Transcarpathians has significant posi ve experience in improving cross-border coopera on in various environmental fields. However, there are s ll significant reserves for improving the forms and methods of such cooperaon.

79

Content 3

Introduction 1. The Tisza basin as a region of particular risk for the environment

4

2. Something about the state of environment or why the house we live at looks like chewed by termites

15

3. Hydrochemical and hydrobiological regime of water bodies of the Tisza basin, as an indicator of the state of aquatic ecosystems

23

4. Nature conservation strategy and flood prevention in Transcarpathians 34 5. Problems of system control over using of forest resources – barrier on the way of implementation of the Carpathians convention 6. Air pollution in the context of global climate change

41 49

7. The ecological situation and measures for improvement of the environment in Transcarpathians: eco-education

60

8. International cooperation in the field of nature conservation as an important step towards European integration of Ukraine Підписано до друку 16.06. 2017. Формат 70х100/16. Папір офсетний. Друк офсетний. Ум. друк. арк. . Тираж 100 прим. Замов. № 362.

Видано та віддруковано в ТОВ “Поліграфцентр “Ліра”: 88000, м. Ужгород, вул. Митрака, 25 www.lira-print.com

Свідоцтво про внесення до Державного реєстру видавців, виготівників і розповсюджувачів видавничої продукції Серія ЗТ №24 від 7 листопада 2005 року.

69

Short notes on the state

Short notes on the state

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