Лист направлено до секретаріату Бернської конвенції Національним екологічним центром України 10.02.2010 р.
Steppe zone takes 40% of the territory of Ukraine (southern, eastern and central regions). At the same time it is the most ploughed up part of Ukraine. The level of ploughing up of some administrative regions reaches 85 to 90% of their total area. The main adverse effect thereof is exceptionally low level of conservation of steppe biotypes typical of the region covered with steppe vegetation and which are the habitats for steppe species population (among them those included in the Red Book of Ukraine and Appendices to the Bern Convention).
The reason for our appeal is a distressing situation which occurred in southern, eastern and central regions of Ukraine in connection with the initiative of the President of Ukraine to expand the area of forest lands in Ukraine. In pursuance of the paragraph 2 of the Decree No.995/2008 On some measures aimed at creating and reestablishing forests and green planting issued by the President of Ukraine as of 04.11.08, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local public administrations have been instructed to localize degraded, inefficient and technogenic contaminated lands, which it is reasonable to use for new forest planting; also they have been instructed to ensure allotment of additional territories and reserve lands in accordance with the established procedure for this purpose. Generally, the percentage of forest land in Ukraine must reach 20%. Current percentage of forest land is about 15%, so 5% of the territory of Ukraine must be forested (condition is that as for now this territory must not be covered with forest).
In compliance with the Order, issued by the State Forestry Committee of Ukraine No.371 On approval of indexes of regional standards for optimal amount of forested lands in the territory of Ukraine as of 29.12.08, which is a direct response to the said President Decree, there is an optimal index of forest lands determined for each region (oblast). Basing on the indexes, approved by the Order, it follows that the area of forested territories must increase, first of all, in ‘steppe’ regions (the south, center and east of Ukraine).
Overwhelming majority of reserve lands in steppe zone, planned to be afforested, consist of hollows and slopes along rivers which are the fragments of steppe biotypes. These are the sites which have to become a network of perspective natural reserved sites and a basis for econetwork of the region. Instead, namely these territories now become the sites for afforestation, which directly causes extermination of numerous endangered animal and plant steppe species and contributes to irrevocable destruction of steppe in the territory of Ukraine. This also violates the requirements of the Law of Ukraine On the Red Book of Ukraine and Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention), which expressly forbids to destruct certain habitats, and first of all those associated with their status (Convention Appendices). Unfortunately, when the lands are handed over for afforestation, only the fact of lands suitability or unsuitability for agricultural purposes is considered, while the aspect of their environmental value and need for rare species preservation is absolutely neglected. Since all the arable lands (including degraded ones that require to be forested) are currently divided into land parcels and granted to use or are in the use of tenants and no one wish to give them back for the creation of new forests, afforestation will be carried out mainly at the expense of reserve land that is steppes. It is evidenced by the official letters of the State Forestry Committee of Ukraine and the business subdivisions, in which forest industry representatives certify their intent to reforest exactly the steppes.
Scientists and public organizations voiced fierce criticism over such unprecedented violation of international environmental laws. In fact, this situation is an evidence not only of that Ukraine exhibits gross negligence of the Convention requirements but also has no mechanism which would ensure practical implementation thereof. The Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, body responsible for compliance with the Convention requirements in Ukraine, supported out initiative in respect of inadmissibility of steppe habitats afforestation, but it lacks sufficient influence on the chief executives in forestry industry of Ukraine.
Executives of the State Forestry Committee of Ukraine treat the position of public environmental groups with contempt. Radio and print press speak of optimistic appeals about advisability of steppe afforestation; hundreds of hectares of steppe territory (including those yet unexplored by scientists) are handed over to the enterprises of forestry industry for forestation. Furthermore, it is apparent that under current climatic conditions creation of unnatural forest planting in steppe zone of Ukraine is next to impossible, for newly created forests by almost 80% are destructed by steppe fires already during the first 2 years, or they just dry out under conditions of moisture deficit and soil salinity. Forests planted in steppe have to be replanted every year. However, it is hardly possible to revive lost steppe biological diversity even if repeated forestation is ceased. What is more, creation of new forests isn’t really planned in Polissia and western regions of the country, historically forest zones.
The territory of steppe biotopes is the habitat for specific species which can live only in these biotopes. There are no other conditions for conservation of steppe biodiversity gene pool. All the more, even now the portion of steppe biotopes is considerably smaller than it is necessary for their sustainable functioning as biodiversity reservation. Conserved fragments of natural landscapes are significantly scattered over the territory, are insignificant by the area and heavily exposed to man-caused negative effects. In case of afforestation of these territories the last unique habitats of steppe species in Ukraine will be lost for good.
The species included in the Appendices to Bern Convention, which are endangered include the following:
Plants: Colchicum fominii Bordz., Allium regeliatum A.Becker ex Ilin, Сarex secalina Willd. Ex Wahlenb., Stipa syreistschikowii P.Smirn, Paeonia tenuifolia L, Silene cretacea Fisch. Ex Spreng, Lepidium turczaninowii Lipsky, Astragalus tanaiticus K.Koch, Genista tetragona Besser, Ferula orientalis s.l. (incl.F.euxima M.Pimen), Lindernia procumbens (Krock.) Borbas (L. pyxidaria auct.non L.), Jurinea cyanoides (L.) Rchb., Lagoseris purpurea (Willd.) Boiss., Serratula tanaitica P.Smirn., Tulipa gesneriana L.
Animals: Lacerta agilis, Lacerta viridis, Podarcis taurica, Ophisaurus apodus, Coluber caspius, Elaphe situla, Elaphe quadrolineata, Vipera ursini, Myotis mystacinus, Plecotus austriacus, Nyctalus noctula, Eptesicus seronitus, Nyctalus leisleri, Nyctalus lasiopterus, Pipistrellus kuhlii,,Vormela peregusna, Mustella eversmannii, Spermophilus suslicus, Cricetus cricetus, Sicista subtilis, Buteo buteo, Falco subbuteo, Falco columbarius, Falco vespertinus, Falco tinnunculus, Coracias garrulus, Merops apiaster, Calandrella cinerea, Calandrella rufenses, Мelanocorypha calandra, Melanocorypha leucoptera, Melanocorypha yeltoniensis, Eremophila alpestris, Anthus campestris, Motacilla flava, Lanius collurio, Lanius minor, Saxicola torquata, Oenanthe oenanthe, Oenanthe isabeleina, Carduelis carduelis, Acanthis (Carduelis) cannabina.
Also the animals, solely steppe endemic, advised to be included in the Appendices to Bern Convention include: Hemiechnus auritus, Cricetulus migratorius, Ellobius talpinus, Lagurus lagurus, Allactaga major, Stylodipus telum, Spalax arenarius, Vulpes corsac.
Many valuable natural areas were already forested in 2009. There is no state monitoring system for endangered animal and plant species in Ukraine. It is not yet possible to organize such a system using only public own resources. Therefore, we have only little information about the sites of steppe areas afforestation, where rare species of flora and fauna are widespread. Some of them are listed in the monograph Tulipa gesneriana L. (Liliacea) in Ukraine: M. M. Perehrym, I. I. Moyseenko, Yu.S. Perehrym, V.A. Melnyk, K.: Kyiv University Publishing and Printing Center, 2009. - 135 pages; some of them were stated in communications by employees of nature reserve fund agencies and in mass media publications. as may be inferred from the list, some sites that have been already forested are not only the place of endangered species habitat but also are included into the existing or prospective natural reserve territories. Hereinbelow is the list of these sites :
1. Mykolaiv Oblast, Berezansky district, outskirts of the villages Andrievo-Zoryne and Sukhodol, partial reserve was projected. It was forested in 2006. However, afforestation was failed and in 2009, the area was ploughed up and forested again;
2. Mykolaiv Oblast, Ochakivsky district, outskirts of the villages Paruytne, the territory of Historical and Archaeological Reserve Olvia, NAS of Ukraine. Also, this area is a projected Regional Landscape Park Olviyska Khora;
3. Coastal area of Dnieper estuary in the outskirts of the village Solonchaky, Ochakivsky district, Mykolaiv Oblast. They damaged an ancient burial ground and habitat of a number of steppe species, which are under state protection, Tulipa hypanica Klokov et Zoz, Colchicum ancyrense B.L.Burtt, Morchella steppicola Zerova. 3 hectares of virgin land were ploughed up.
4. Steppe hollow near Balanove village, Ochakivsky district, Mykolaiv Oblast, Partial Reserve Berezanski Tulips was projected. It was forested in 2009, one of the last in Mykolayiv region site where the Schrenk’s tulips grow. The population was over 1 thousand individuals. 5 hectars of virgin land was ploughed up.
5. The top of the Atamanka hollow near the village Krasnopillya, Berezansky district, Mykolayiv Oblast, is part of the existing Regional Landscape Park (RLP) Tylihulskyy Estuary. Aggregates of mat-grass Ukrainian and habitat of Tulipa schrenkii Regel. The population of the latter exceeded 800 individuals. 1 hectare of virgin land was ploughed up.
6. Mykhayilivsky Steppe near the village of Mykhayilivka, Novoodesky district, Mykolayiv Oblast. One of the last habitats of Crambe tataria Sebeók, Adonis vernalis L. in the Northwest Black Sea Region (Red Book of Ukraine, the third edition). Territory was forested and ploughed up, reserved by the Decree of President of Ukraine No.1129/2008 as of 01.12.2008 for expansion of natural reserve Yelanetskyy Steppe. 10 hectares of virgin land was damaged.
7. Coastal area of Berezansky estuary nearby the village of Matiyasove, Berezansky district, Mykolaiv Oblast (Sosytsky Cape). Here about 3 hectares of virgin land was ploughed up (Stipa capillata L. group) and the Ancient Settlement, which was registered with the State Register of Immovable Monuments of Ukraine as the site of cultural heritage of national importance.
8. Right bank of the Hnyly Yelanets River near Malozhenivka village, Yelanetsky district, Mykolaiv Oblast. Habitat of Tulipa hypanica Klokov et Zoz & Pulsatilla pratensis (L.) Mill. s.l. About 15 hectares of virgin land was ploughed up.
9. Steppe hollow near Kuybyshivka village, Yelanetsky district, Mykolaiv Oblast. Groups of Stipa lessingiana Trin. et Rupr. About 30 hectares of virgin land was ploughed up.
10. Branching off of Orlova Hollow in the outskirts of Vodiano-Loryne village, Yelanetsky district, Mykolaiv Oblast, which is a continuation of the main land of natural reserve Yelanetsky Steppe and potential areas for its expansion. Here Stipa lessingiana Trin. et Rupr. & Stipa capillata L. are widespread, and 11 species listed in the Red Book of Ukraine grow in this area. 25 hectares of virgin land was ploughed up.
11. Kherson Oblast, Novtroyitsky district, Churyuk village;
12. Kherson Oblast, Henichevsky district between the
railway stations Salkovo and Syvash;
13. Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Melitopol district, outskirts of Troitske village, Partial reserve Balka Troyitska was projected;
14. Particularly resonant was the case associated with afforestation of the area of Zaplava Richky Chyngul (The Chyngul River Floodplain) Steppe Reserve in Zaporizhzhia Oblast with the richest rare fauna and flora and other virgin steppe areas in Tokmatsky district, where more than 50 species of protected animals and plants have been revealed;
15. Luhansk Oblast, Antratsytivsky distircrt, outskirts of Ivanivka village;
16. Luhansk Oblast, Stanychno-Luhansky district, outskirts of Verkhnia Vilkhova village;
17. In the territory of the branch of the Luhansk Nature Reserve Trokhizbensky Steppe in Novoaydarsky district of Luhansk Oblast about 50 hectares of sand steppe was forested.
Given the scope of afforestation operations in southern and south-eastern regions of Ukraine and limited information due to the quite rapid development of events, this list is not exhaustive of the facts of complete destruction of the natural steppe biotopes which are the habitats of species protected by the Berne Convention. We can not provide a complete list of lokalities which have been already lost for the past few years, or those endangered, due to the folloiwng reasons:
1) Threat of afforestation is urgent for all steppe habitats and there is no cartographic material for even those areas that will forested in the first place.
2) Taking an inventory of species expansion listed in the Berne Convention Appendices is not practiced in Ukraine and no examination of each specific habitats before afforestation was carried out by zoologists and botanists.
Photos evidencing the facts of afforestation mentioned in list are presented in Appendix. Information on flora and fauna of these areas is available upon request. Also it is possible to demonstrate them afield to the experts of the Convention.
Afforestation of steppe habitats leads to the following negative effects:
1) ploughing of the land area, preceding afforestation, completely destroys the existing plant communities and fauna habitat.
2) creation of man-made forests in the steppe natural complex prevents its restoration and further existence of typical species in this territory.
Ukraine does not belong to the countries in which NATURA 2000 system is being developed but steppe areas, which include species belonging to resolution 6of Bern Convencion, could potentially enter the Emerald Network.
None of the steppe regions has adopted the Regional schemes of ecological network. However, all steppe lands, being the last remnants of the typical zoned landscape (including the only habitats for endemic species) are especially valuable areas.
We know about only one regional scheme of ecological network, which is the only in the steppe region, that is in Odessa Oblast. However, the main measure of the regional program of ecological network development is the creation of new forests, and in the Ecological Network Scheme itself, most steppe hollows are marked as ‘degraded land’ and accordingly they are planned to be forested under the guise of ecological network development.
As for the other biodiversity conservation lists, the steppe habitats consist of the species included into the European Red List and Red Data Book of the IUCN
Wildlife: 159 out of 543 species included in the Red Book of Ukraine (third edition, 2009) are dependent on conservation of steppe habitats (29%); 54 of which were included in the RB of Ukraine in 2009 (Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine, 17.06.2009, #313). In terms of conservation categories, the listed of which has also been updated in a new edition of the RB of Ukraine, we have the following distribution of steppe species: 33 endangered, 46 vulnerable, 67 rare, 7 unrated, 5 insufficiently known, 1 extinct in the wild.
It will be remembered that the second edition of Red Book of Ukraine (1994) included 91 steppe species of the total 382 (24%), i.e., even with the exclusion of a number of species, we could say that Red Book of Ukraine increases the proportion of steppe species.
Flora. 276 out of 826 species (33.4%) are dependent on the conservation of steppe habitat, 87 of them were included into the Red Book of Ukraine in 2009 (the Order #312 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine as of 17.06.2009). Among the steppe rarities: 53 are endangered, 99 vulnerable, 55 rare, 42 unrated, 22 insufficiently known, 4 extinct in the wild.
We have no information about any procedure or decisions in respect of the issue at the international level.
What concerns the national level, the issue we raised was considered in the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine. The Ministry supports our position. However, the operations of afforestation are carried out by the bodies of the State Forestry Committee of Ukraine and the land for this purpose is allotted by the district administrations. These bodies are not subordinate to the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine and therefore it cannot always influence them to stop afforestation. There is no response to our appeals from the President of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The following primarily treeless areas are planned to be forested (thousand ha): Autonomous Republic of Crimea - 217; Dnipropetrovsk Oblast - 91.2; Donetsk Oblast - 128.5; Zaporizhzhya Oblast - 26.6; Kirovohrad Oblast - 107.6; Luhansk Oblast - 119.4 , Mykolaiv Oblast - 78.2, Odessa Oblast - 100.6; Poltava Oblast - 179.6; Kharkiv Oblast - 91.7; Kherson Oblast - 94.5. This is up to 100,600 hectares of steppe territories!
Projects of land allotment for afforestation and the very forest plantation projects do not undergo state ecological expert review and no EIA are developed for them.
