Goslisogenstvo: The question of creation of the National Natural Park "Kholodny Yar" requires coordination with local communities of Cherkassy region

In connection with the proliferation of media information about the alleged destruction of forest arrays of the cold ravine in Cherkassy region and reluctance of the State forestry to create a national natural park in this area, we want to report the following.

State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine supports the idea of creation of the National Natural Park “Kholodny Yar” on the Lands of forest-economic designation Kreseletsky Forestry se “Kamensky forestry” with total area of 3436 hectares.

We want to clarify that in these lands already there is a complex monument of nature of national importance “cold Yar” area of 1039 hectares, which is created in historical places and has a strict reserve regime.
However, there is an inconsistency between the initiators of the National Natural Park and local self-government bodies, with respect to the area projected to create the park. Initiators propose to increase the area of NNP to 8050 hectares, and to include two forestry of SE «Kamensky Forestry»-Grushkivska and Kreselitske.

It is not taken into account that the majority of wood-mills of these forest-forest crops of ordinary oak, including 318 hectares under 20 years. Such plantations require systematic forestry activities and do not represent values for conservation. It should be noted that all historical objects, as well as plantations, which are in the territory of the existing nature-Reserve fund, are preserved and duly cared for many years of the SE “Kamensky forestry”.

We would like to emphasize that the final decision of this question depends on the position of local communities of Cherkassy region.

In numerous appeals of representatives of local Government of the region, in particular, Grushkivska, Melnykivska, Zhdanynskaya, Golovkivska and Lubenska village councils, it is said that the communities of villages speak against the idea of creating a national park, As the removal of such forest area in the state forestry will stop a single working industrial enterprise in the area.

As confirmation of the reluctance to expand the area and the establishment of the NNP, residents of these villages lead an example of existence on the territory of Cherkassy Region State Reserve “Trathemiriv”, which since 2000 somehow became private and also national parks “Bilozersky” and ” Nizhny Sulskiy, which were transformed into private estates and hunting grounds.

The position of the state forestry is that there is a need for additional coordinated meetings at the local level with the participation of all stakeholders to address the issue of the creation of the National Natural Park “Kholodny yar”.

According to the information of Cherkassy regional administration of forest and hunting economy within the existing monuments of nature “cold yar” no chopping is carried out. As of today, at the expense of the limit of wood billets in the order of the main use in the limits of the approved nature of the calculation forest, in the Kreseletsky forestry are carried out only on four areas, which are far removed from the objects Nature Reserve Fund and constitute 0.1% of the total area of forestry.

Vehicles, which were stopped in the Kreseletsky forestry community activists, tested by police officers Chigirinsky and Kamensky districts, violations in the timber preparation and transportation were not found.

Additionally, to inform that during the first half-year of 2016, the subsidiary “Kamenskoe Forestry” paid almost 17 million hryvnias of taxes, charges and obligatory payments from them to local budgets-3.7 million hryvnias, also paid a single Social contribution of almost UAH 3 million.

Press-Service of State forestry