Posted on June, 27 2017

Kiyv – WWF calls on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to sign draft legislation for the protection of virgin forests under the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians and to establish effective protection for virgin forests in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine. The draft law was already approved by the Ukrainian Parliament in May.
 
Virgin forests are some of the last ecosystems where nature thrives in its purest form, substantially unaffected by human intervention. Old-growth forests in Central and Eastern Europe face major threats like unsustainable resource use, poor management and illegal logging. A significant part of remaining European pristine forests is situated in the Carpathian and Balkan Mountains, which WWF calls the Green Heart of Europe. These treasures need better protection.
 
“At the beginning of 2017, together with other Ukrainian organizations, WWF identified 85,000 hectares of old-growth forests in the country, with 54,000 ha of them in the Carpathians. Now there is a real chance to protect these beautiful pieces of Ukrainian nature, some of which are already recognized as a UNESCO natural heritage. Almost half of the identified virgin and old-growth forests are under threat of logging if not urgently protected, and the only way to do so is an effective law”, says Alena Tarasova, Country Coordinator for WWF in Ukraine.
 
WWF calls on President Poroshenko to take steps to preserve this unique natural heritage, and to sign the important draft law safeguarding the Carpathian virgin forests.
 
More information about the old-growth forests in Ukraine is available on WWF’s online forest map http://gis-wwf.com.ua/ .