Throughout 2024, the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (UNCG) prepared and submitted 40 petitions to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources (Min dovkillia) and regional administrations for the establishment of new territories within the Protected Areas Fund (Pryrodno-Zapovidnyi Fond, PZF). These petitions, based on the results of our expeditions, cover valuable natural sites across seven regions. The total area of the proposed protected areas in these petitions amounts to over 5,000 hectares.
However, the establishment of each desired protected area can take years and often faces various obstacles. Consequently, the number of officially designated protected areas is always less than the number of submitted proposals.
In total, based on our petitions, 10 protected sites were established in five regions in 2024:
- Mykolaiv region: “Chortalski Obriyi” landscape reserve (143.1 ha), “Lukianivskyi” (27.2 ha), and “Barativskyi” botanical reserve (62.37 ha).
- Odesa region: “Chyhrynska Balka” landscape reserve (579.18 ha), “Kolo Hleya” (45 ha), and “Skhyly do Lunha” (11.2134 ha). Chyhrynska Balka is the largest newly designated protected area in all regions in 2024.
- Kyiv region: “Vikove Sosnove Lis” botanical reserve (30.8 ha).
- Sumy region: “Urochyshche Sontsevykiv” entomological reserve (6.6948 ha) and “Pampurivka” hydrological reserve (22.6 ha).
- Kirovohrad region: Expansion of the “Kaskady” complex nature monument (72.4521 ha).
In summary, the total area of protected territories established in 2024 based on our research and justification is 1,000 hectares, which constitutes 34% of the total area of all newly established protected areas throughout the year.
