Protecting the Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains are a unique 1,500-kilometer ecosystem stretching across seven European countries, including Ukraine. The portion of the ecosystem within Ukraine is considered most neglected and is known throughout the world for the destructive floods that engulfed it in 1998 and again in 2001. The region is plagued with numerous problems, including illegal logging, illegal levels of toxic emissions from surrounding factories that lead to soil contamination and river pollution, as well as negligence in preserving environmental biodiversity. The situation is compounded by flaws in local laws on environmental protection that contain no enforcement or punitive mechanisms to address environmental problems. These factors, in combination with the regions dire poverty, high unemployment and low environmental awareness have caused people living here to react slowly to the contamination and destruction they are witnessing. They have not appreciated fully the value of being personally involved and have taken little action to safeguard their environment.
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A TV Crew interviews an environmental activist at a garbage dump in Lviv Oblast
Photo Credit: Volodymyr Peslyak |
Ecosphera, a regional environmental youth coalition based in Uzhhorod, did not remain indifferent. It took the initiative in uniting and coordinating community efforts by Carpathia’s residents under a USAID-supported project - Protect the Carpathians through Community Efforts. The Ecosphera project conducted three two-day seminars for community representatives on access to environ-mental information and the protection of citizens’ environmental rights; experience in resolving local community problems in the Carpathian region; and community monitoring of the state of the surrounding environment. It provided legal consultations to 12 clients, as well as general consultations to community representatives on conducting informational campaigns.
Ecosphera also gathered representatives of local governments and village schools along with CSOs, and journalists who reside in 23 communities of the four Carpathian regions - Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattya, Lviv and Chernivtsi – and created an information-consulting network. The network participants compiled, analyzed and disseminated information about the state of the surrounding environment. They submitted the materials to the media, along with photos and video film. Eventually, 20 radio and eight TV programs, as well as 37 articles ad-dressed the ecological problems in Carpathia. In addition, 10 educational films about the problems facing the Carpathians and four issues of Hromada, (Community), an information-analytical bulletin, were produced.
The intensive information campaign inspired residents to take action and push the government to address environmental issues. As a result, 23 communities were able to solve specific local environmental problems. In one such case, two bituminous coal plants causing excessive pollution were shut down in Lisna Tarnovytsya, a village located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. In another case, a district government took action to safely seal and store abandoned pesticides. A conflict was also resolved among residents of Polyana, a village in Zakarpattya oblast, where illegal logging activities took place.
Ecosphera activities started a chain reaction as local communities began to implement
sustainable development strategies, submitting grant proposals for various project, including
rural and green tourism development; innovative plumbing systems for mountainous villages;
use of “green” electricity; and development and promotion of local products. Finally, local
community and government leaders were moved to draft a proposal to the Parliament in Kyiv to
give local governments more taxation authority, which would increase local budgets and allow communities to more effectively resolve local issues, including the environmental problem.
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