It is impossible to imagine healing Carpathian air and water without green gold, that the Carpathian forests will always stay. 50 % of the Carpathian region are covered with forests the fund of which is about 700000 hectares. Natural composition of the Carpathian forests is rather rich with the prevalence of stead deciduous (over 60 %) and coniferous (about 30 %) species.

During thousand years they have been the main clear air generator.

According to the position of experts, one hectare of the forest absorbs 2 tons of carbonic acid gas, enriching 10-11 billions cubic m of air with oxygen. Trees and grasses evolve ephemeral substances – phitocids, that kill disease causing bacterium, fungus, stimulus of tuberculosis. So forest is a sanitar of air – one of the most important efficiency condition of sanitary-resort area. Due to this it is also irreplaceable source of water reservation making not only for the western regions of Ukraine, but for the whole Tisza-Dunaj basin of Hungary, Eastern and Middle Slovakia, the whole Carpathian region and even of Europe.

The Carpathians are one of those European territories, where on the large areas virgin forests, which have unique ecological and aesthetic values are preserved in their primordial beauty. It is the element, that links ancient ages with XXI century, supporting full-blooded life of society. In this aspect unvalued role is played by 5 biosphere and 400 forest reservations, 38 national parks, that are set out in the countries of the Carpathian region.

The problem of nature-preservation deal and econetwork is one of the many directions of the Ukrainian ecological policy, elements of its Eurointegration.

It is also supported by the Edit of the Ukrainian President from 27.08.2008 “About urgent measures for extending of the national natural parks network”. According to the document up to 5 acting national parks and over 100 forest reservations ecological network will be extended with 14 national parks, three of them in the Carpathians – “Zacharovany Krai”, in Ivano-Frankivska ob-last – “Verhovyna of Dovbush”, and in Chernivetcka oblast – “Cheremoshsky”.

So the national policy on sustainable development of the Ukrainian Carpathians is becoming more closely related with international co-operation in the sphere of nature protection. The example of the beforesaid is the creation of Uk-rainian-Polish-Slovakian biosphere reservation (“Eastern Carpathians”), that’s included in the international network of biosphere reservations. Actions are being provided to create mutual Ukrainian-Romanian biosphere reservation “Maramorosh (Gutsul) Alps” and Ukrainian-Hungarian landscape park “Prytysyansky”.

But it needs great expenditures of time and money, human labor to reconstruct lost forest wealth and preserve it safe for future generations. Barbarous ill-considered attitude to forest resources during the previous century, directed to the achievement of the own forest management aims, led to reduce territories covered with forests of the whole Carpathian region, and because of by-river forests, the upper forest border was down on 200-300 m, large area of post-forest highland meadows were artificially created, secular structure of forest states was breached, that in the negative way affected the forest water-regulation function, caused diseases of the whole forest massifs, specifically beech, that in June 2007 were included to the list of objects of the World Nature Heritage property.

It is necessary to notice, that only in Zakarpatska oblast ancients added 247 species of vascular plants to rare, endangered, from 200000 existing. In the whole, nowadays more than 10 % species of flora and fauna are not simply rare, but in the threatening state. Due to this, it is necessary to create Common Red Book of rare species of flora and fauna for the whole Carpathians and Green Book of rare ecosystems with substantiation of ecological conditions of their reservation.

In this sense unique role in providing preservation of the Carpathian rich wildlife nature and culture was played by Carpathian Ecoregion Initiative, which is the international co-operation of governmental and non-governmental organizations, scientific institutions, local communities and maecenas united in desire to preserve nature for the needs of the people living there. Exactly this Initiative gave stimulus for adoption of Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians in 2003, sighed by 7 countries of the Carpathian region – Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine and Czech Republic.

Kichkovskiy M., Gamor F., Kushnir B. Land Close to the Sky. Uzhhorod : Karpaty, 2008