This week, the Kyiv Regional Council designated a new local botanical nature reserve called “Age-Old Pine Forest” (Vikovy Sosnovy Lis). The reserve, covering 30.8 hectares, is located on the outskirts of Tarashcha in the Bila Tserkva district.
The establishment of this reserve will effectively preserve a pine forest where individual trees are between 60 and 120 years old. One specimen, toppled by a storm in 2013, was found to be 180 years old. These trees were under potential threat of logging. The area also features common oak trees (Quercus robur) aged 20–80 years.
According to the Bern Convention, the local forest stand is classified as habitat G3.4232 “Sarmatic pine forests of the continental zone” and requires protection.
We thank the Kyiv Regional Council for this important decision. We also extend our congratulations to our colleagues Oleksandr Shynder and Yuliia Nehrash from the M.M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden, who discovered this remarkable site and prepared the scientific justification for the reserve’s creation.
We will continue our work to expand Ukraine’s network of protected areas.
