WWF welcomes new protected areas in Ukraine

The Bystroye Canal under construction in the Danube delta, not far from the Ukrainian village of Vilkove in 2004. The US, EU said the canal was a threat to the environment. Environmental group WWF has welcomed Ukraine's decision to designate large swathes of land as protected, but warned that key areas, such as the Danube delta, were still under threat.
(AFP/Ania Tsoukanova)

Environmental group WWF on Wednesday welcomed Ukraine's decision to designate large swathes of land as protected, but warned that key areas, such as the Danube delta, were still under threat.

Over the past 10 months, the Ukrainian government has established 29 new protected areas, bringing the total number of protected nature zones in the country to 38, WWF said in a statement.

"With these additions, Ukraine's protected area system now covers 3.7 million hectares, or approximately 5.5 percent of the country's territory," WWF said.

But the group also warned of "a number of pressures that are threatening even those areas that already enjoy some form of protection, including inappropriate or poorly planned infrastructure developments."

Specifically, the development of a massive ski area in Bukovel in western Ukraine, among the 20 largest such areas in the world, is increasingly threatening key wilderness and protected nature parks in the Carpathian mountains, WWF complained.

Another cause for concern was the recent completion of the Bystroye Canal in the Danube delta, WWF said.

Source:
AFP, "WWF welcomes new protected areas in Ukraine", accessed February 25, 2010