Law No. 1989-III on the State Program on the National Environmental Network Development for the period of 2000-2015

Unofficial Translation LAW OF UKRAINE ON THE STATE PROGRAMME OF UKRAINE’S NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK DEVELOPMENT FOR YEARS 2000-2015 (Vidomosti Verkhovnoyi Rady Ukrayiny (VVR), 2000, issue 47, page 405) The Supreme Council (Parliament) of Ukraine RESOLVES hereby as follows: 1. The attached State Programme of Ukraine’s National Environmental Network Development for Years 2000-2015 shall be approved. 2. This Law shall become effective from the date of the publication thereof. 3. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall: appoint people in charge of the implementation of actions related to the development of the national environmental network; earmark appropriate funds for the implementation of actions related to the development of the national environmental network for the forthcoming year during the development of the draft State Budget of Ukraine and the draft State Economic and Social Development Programme of Ukraine. LEONID KUCHMA President of Ukraine City of Kyiv, 21 September 2000 #1989-III Approved by Law of Ukraine #1989-III of 21 September 2000 STATE PROGRAMME OF UKRAINE’S NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK DEVELOPMENT FOR YEARS 2000-2015 Section I. GENERAL PROVISIONS The State Programme of Ukraine’s National Environmental Network Development for Years 2000-2015 (hereinafter referred to as the “Programme”) has been developed in the context of requirements related to the further refinement, improvement and development of the environmental legislation of Ukraine, as well as in line with recommendations of the Pan European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (1995) in respect of the issue of the development of an Pan-European Environmental Network as a single spatial system of areas of European countries with the natural or partly altered condition of the landscape. A great deal of importance is placed upon the improvement of the regulatory and legal framework in the field of the preservation, expansion, restoration and protection of the single system of areas with the natural condition of the landscape and other natural complexes and unique areas, the establishment of natural objects subject to special protection on their territory, 2 thus contributing to the reduction, prevention and elimination of the negative impact of the business and other activities of the people on the environment, the preservation of natural resources and the gene pool of the animate nature. The environmental network development provides for changes in the structure of the stock of lands of the country by attributing (on the basis of the justification of the environmental safety and the economic feasibility) some lands used for purposes of the economy to the categories subject to the special protection with the restoration of the diversity of natural landscapes inherent in them. The wealth of natural landscapes is the common property of the Ukrainian people, its natural heritage and should serve to the current and future generations as declared in the Constitution of Ukraine (254k/96-VR). 1. Terms and Definitions The following terms and definitions shall are used herein: ‘biological (biotic) diversity’ shall be understood as the totality of all species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, groups thereof, and ecosystems within the territory of Ukraine, its territorial and internal marine waters, exclusive (marine) economic zone and continental shelf. The biological diversity consists of the species, population, cenosis and genetic diversity. Human beings are an integral component of the biological diversity and cannot exist other than within it; ‘buffer zone’ shall be understood as an area with the natural or partly altered condition of the landscape, which surrounds the most valuable sections of the environmental network and protects them against the impact of negative external factors of the natural or anthropogenic origin; ‘environmental network’ shall be understood as an integral territorial system, which includes areas of natural landscapes subject to the special protection, and areas and objects of the natural reserve fund, resort, curative, recreational, water protection, field protection areas and objects of other types as specified by the legislation of Ukraine and is a part of the structural territorial elements (hereinafter referred to as the “elements”) of the environmental network, namely natural regions, natural corridors and buffer zones; ‘cadastre of areas and objects of the natural reserve fund’ shall be understood as a system of recording and assessing the condition of areas and individual objects of the natural reserve fund, and their territorial totalities in terms of quantity and quality, whose purpose is to provide executive agencies, local self-administration bodies, individuals and legal entities with adequate data on the legal status, title, regime, geographical location, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of these areas and objects, their environmental, scientific, educational, recreational and other value for the purposes of the protection, preservation and efficient management of the operation and development of the natural reserve fund; ‘land conservation’ shall be understood as the withdrawal of (agricultural or industrial) lands from the economic turnover for a certain period to take actions aimed at the restoration of the fertility and environmentally acceptable condition of soils, as well as the restoration (renewal) of the lost environmental balance in a specific region; ‘environmental network status monitoring’ shall be understood as a system of the observation of changes in components of the environment within the environmental network in order to timely identify the negative trends in their condition, assess possible consequences of such changes, predict and prevent negative processes, eliminate their aftermath; 3 ‘population’ shall be understood as a totality of individual organisms of the same species with general conditions required to maintain the number of such organisms at a certain level during a long period; ‘natural region’ shall be understood as a natural and territorial formation of considerable area, whose integrity shall be determined by area-specific phyto-landscape, physical and geographical, administrative and other indices characterised by typical and unique natural complexes, diverse flora and fauna, and which plays a regional role of stabilising the environment; ‘natural corridor’ shall be understood as an area of land or water surface either being in or brought to the natural condition, which ensures that the environment meets the conditions of the continuity, systematic unity and carries out the bio-communication functions at various levels of the spatial organisation of the environmental network; ‘natural landscape’ shall be understood as an integral natural and territorial complex with genetically homogenous and uniform natural conditions of localities, which have developed as a result of the interaction of components of the geological environment, relief, hydrogeological regime, soils and biocenoses; ‘coastal marine natural landscapes’ shall be understood as natural landscapes including land and sea (water) based natural complexes and objects; ‘existence environment of plants and animals’ shall be understood as a totality of environmental conditions (both abiotic and biotic), which an individual, a population or a species exists in and cannot exist without; ‘cenosis (biocenosis)’ shall be understood as an historical totality of plant and animal species inhabiting an area with more or less uniform existence conditions (biotope). 2. Current Condition of Areas and Objects Subject to the Special Protection Areas and objects subject to the special protection (areas and objects of the natural reserve fund, resort and curative, recreational, water and field protection, and other natural areas and objects) account for a relatively insignificant share of the territory of Ukraine. The current area and territorial structure of the lands of Ukraine, which are subject to the special protection, provide certain grounds for attributing them to a territorial system with certain features of an environmental network. The current condition of natural landscapes of Ukraine meets the criteria of the Pan-European Environmental Network only in part. The national environmental network shall include the share of lands of the country, where natural landscapes have been preserved in an almost unchanged or partly changed condition. The area of lands being components of Ukraine’s National Environmental Network is specified in Annex 1. In addition, the environmental network shall also include individual littoral sections of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Natural landscapes can be observed at almost 40 per cent of the territory of Ukraine. They are preserved in the least changed condition at lands covered with forests, shrubs, marshes, and at open lands, whose area accounts for about 19.7 per cent of the total area of the country. Since only 44 per cent of forests perform protective and environmental functions, one may assume that landscapes occupying about 12.7 of the territory of the country are in the condition close to the natural one. The best-protected are the natural complexes within territories of the natural reserve fund. As of 01 September 2000, the natural reserve fund of Ukraine includes biosphere and natural 4 reserves, national natural parks, regional landscape parks, special reserves, natural monuments, reserve tracts, botanical gardens, dendrological parks, zoological parks, parks being monuments of the landscape architecture with the total area of around 2.4 million hectares, or 4 per cent of the territory of the country. Almost 0.5 million hectares of these lands have been granted for use to institutions of the natural reserve fund. Currently, the flora of Ukraine consists of over 25 thousand plant species; the fauna consists of almost 45 thousand animal species. The negative anthropogenic factors of the influence upon the environment resulted in the extinction of a large number of biological species and endangered the existence of many existing species. This resulted in 541 plant species’ and 382 animal species’ being included in the Red Book of Ukraine and 127 rare and extinct typical plant groupings’ being included in the Green Book of Ukraine. The number of almost all species of birds of prey, as well as waterfowl, Gallinaceae, crane-like birds, mammals, fishes and insects is gradually reducing. Negative changes in the marine flora and fauna are brought about by the appearance of dangerous foreign species. The Lychnia, Koeleria, Centaurea, Liliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Gallinaceae. Till the end of this century, 20 more species of mammals and a number of other species of animals and plants can be entered in the Red Book of Ukraine. More than 20 per cent of populations of wild herbs or technical plants are on the eve of the exhaustion as a result of the uncontrolled use. In biocenoses of Ukraine, the trend of the rapid propagation of virus infections has been observed. A number of flora and fauna objects are affected with viruses. According to the Programme of the Prospective Development of Reserves in Ukraine (177/94-VR) approved by Resolution of the Supreme Council (Parliament) of Ukraine of 22 September 1994, the area of the natural reserve fund has been growing dynamically. However, its share in the total area of Ukraine, the diversity of types of natural landscapes and plant groups, the territorial structure of the nature protection territories do not fully comply with international standards, the strategy of planning the territory of the country. In addition, as a result of the prevalent development of raw material production sectors in Ukraine, which are the most hazardous sectors from the environmental point of view, and the excessive tillage of soils, the conditions of ensuring the territorial continuity of areas with natural landscapes deteriorated. This complicates and sometimes makes impossible the spatial processes of the biological exchange at the cenotic and genetic levels inherent in the live nature. The favourable pre-requisites for the increase in the area of lands with natural landscapes, which emerged in the course of the reform of economic relations in the field of the land use, are ensured by: withdrawing agricultural lands (first of all, degraded arable lands) as a result of the nonprofitability of their use for designated purposes; withdrawing land plots, which have lost their natural condition and endanger the preservation of the environment, from the industrial use (in the field of raw materials production, construction and in other sectors); giving preference to the restoration of natural landscapes as the most appropriate type of the use of lands withdrawn from the agricultural use; establishing water protection zones and coastal protection belts around waters; increasing the area of forests, woodland belts around agricultural lands, industrial and residential areas; the need for Ukraine to comply with its international commitments in the field of the environmental protection. 5 3. Objective and Tasks of the Programme The principal objective of the Programme is to increase the area of lands of the country under the natural landscapes to the level sufficient for the preservation of their diversity close to their initial natural condition and the development of their territorially integrated system built to ensure the possibility to use the natural ways of the migration and propagation of species of plants and animals, which would ensure the preservation of natural ecosystems, species and populations of the flora and fauna. At that, the National Environmental Network should meet the requirements to the operation thereof within the Pan-European Environmental Network and perform the leading functions in respect of the preservation of the biological diversity. In addition, the Programme should contribute to the balanced and sustainable use of biological resources in the economy. Major tasks of the Programme shall be as follows: 1) in the field of the development of the national environmental network: to determine the spatial structure of the environmental network in order to systematise and determine the ways of the integration of natural environments of the existence of populations of wild flora and fauna species in a territorially integral complex; to determine the area of individual environmental network elements in order to ensure favourable conditions of the existence, free propagation and migration of plant and animal species; to justify and refine the organisational, economic, scientific, practical and other actions in order to support the process of the development and protection of the environmental network; to determine areas for the development of components of the national environmental network, such as natural regions, natural corridors of national importance; to define their place in the structure of lands; to optimise the area, structure and status of elements of the environmental network, to increase their protection status; to reserve and then confer the appropriate status on reserve areas being rich in terms of the biodiversity, especially on the old nature groupings, river-bed, mountain, and gully forests, virgin lands, typical and unique ecosystems and landscapes, existence environments of rare and endangered species, geological formations and standard soil types, etc.; to agree upon the issues related to the transboundary integration of elements of environmental networks of neighbouring countries with elements of the national environmental network of Ukraine in order to develop the Pan-European Environmental Network; to inform the population about the role of the environmental network in maintaining the environmental balance in regions, to ensure the participation of local executive agencies and the population in the preservation of the landscape diversity; 2) in the field of the protection and restoration of land resources: to optimise areas of agricultural lands and to reduce the extent of the tillage of such lands; to improve the structure of agricultural lands and to enrich them with natural components; to introduce a soil-protective farming system with the contour-irrigation organisation of the territory; to restrict the destructive intensive use of environmentally vulnerable lands; 6 to preserve the agricultural lands with very washed out and very deflated soils at slopes, whose gradient exceeds 5-7 degrees; 3) in the field of the protection and restoration of water resources: to ensure the ecological sanation of natural land and water areas, especially river sources, to improve the condition of flood ecosystems in basins of Dnieper, Dnister, Southern and Western Boog, Siversky Donets, Danube, including the creation of protective belts along the coasts of water objects, especially at very steep areas, to take actions aimed at the preservation of wetlands, to enhance their water protective and water control ability, ensure their renaturalisation and improve the protection of natural complexes of the water protection zones of water objects; to develop and take actions aimed at the preservation of coastal landscapes of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, to create a network of marine objects of the natural reserve fund; 4) in the field of the protection, use and restoration of resources of the flora and fauna: to create areas with forest and meadow type vegetation in agricultural landscapes; to restore (re-naturalise) the steppe, meadow, wetlands and other natural landscapes, where appropriate and feasible; to arrange for new areas to maintain the existence environments of certain plant and animal species entered in the Red Book of Ukraine and the natural plant groups entered in the Green Book of Ukraine, the European Red List of Plants and Animals Endangered throughout the World, as well as other plant and animal species included in lists of international conventions and agreements binding upon Ukraine; to optimise the agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing taking into account the existence conditions of species of the local flora and fauna; to improve the condition of the protection, preservation and restoration of greenery plantations and forests being components of greenery zones of cities and other populated areas; 5) in the field of the biodiversity preservation: to maintain, strengthen and restore key ecosystems and existence environments of plant and animal species; to ensure the stable management of the positive potential of the biological diversity by way of the optimal utilisation of the social and economic opportunities at the national and regional levels; to take into account the objectives in the field of the preservation, and balanced and sustainable use of the biological diversity in all sectors using or influencing the same; to take targeted actions meeting the requirements of the preservation of various types (mountain, steppe, meadow, coastal, marine, river, flood, lake, wetland and forest) of ecosystems and based upon the legal and financial potential of the nature users and state authorities. 4. Conceptual Provisions of the National Environmental Network Development The following shall constitute the legal basis for the development of the national environmental network: Laws of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection” (12264-12), “On Natural Reserve Fund of Ukraine” (2456-12), “On Fauna” (3041-12), “On Flora” (591-14), the Land Code of Ukraine (561-12), the Forest Code of Ukraine (3852-12) and the Water Code of Ukraine (213/95-VR). The natural areas of international importance shall be set up in accordance with international treaties of Ukraine, for instance 1971 Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (995 031), 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention (995 089), 1979 Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (995 034) (1979), 1979 Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (995 136), 7 Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (995 065) (1992), Convention on Biological Diversity (995 030) (1994), Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (1995), Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (994 273) (1999). The natural regions, natural corridors and buffer zones in their continuous integrity shall form a network, which unites natural landscape areas into a territorially integral system. Depending on functions, area and animal and plant species structure, elements of the international, national and local importance shall be identified within the national environmental network. The natural regions shall be formed in territories, which contain objects of the natural reserve fund, whose percentage is considerably higher than the country average value, as well as other territories, which meet the conditions determined by the national environmental protection legislation or international regulatory and legal acts (conventions, agreements, treaties, etc.) and ensure the protection of the landscape and biological diversity, especially those, which include habitats of rare and endangered species of plants and animals. The natural corridors shall have the form of natural landscape areas of a prolonged configuration being of various width, length, or shape, and interconnecting natural regions. They should ensure the appropriate conditions of the preservation of wildlife species. The buffer zones shall be established to protect the natural regions and corridors against the detrimental impact of external factors, to create more favourable conditions within them for the development, self-restoration, and optimisation of management forms in order to preserve the existing natural values and to restore those extinct. The following shall be the components of structural elements of the environmental network: 1) areas and objects of the natural reserve funds being the major natural elements of the environmental network, namely: natural and biosphere reserves, national natural parks, regional landscape parks, sanctuaries (landscape, forest, botanical, general zoological, ornithological, entomological, ichthyological, hydrological, general geological, palaeontological, and karst/speleological), natural monuments, as well as their protection zones; artificial objects (botanical gardens, dendrological parks, zoological parks, parks being monuments of the landscape architecture); 2) water objects (sections of a sea, lake, water reservoir, river), wetlands, water protection zones, coastal protection belts, allocation belts, coastal belts of waterways and sanitary protection zones, which make up the relevant basin systems; 3) forests of the first group; 4) forests of the second group; 5) resort and curative areas with their natural resources; 6) recreational areas for the organisation of the recreation of the population and tourism; 7) other natural areas (areas with steppe vegetation, meadows, pastures, rock placers, sands, saline lands, etc.); 8) land plots, where natural plant groupings entered in the Green Book of Ukraine grow; 9) land plots, where species of animals and plants entered in the Red Book of Ukraine stay or grow; 10) partly, the agricultural lands used extensively—pastures, meadows, hay harvesting areas, etc.; 11) radioactively polluted lands, which are not used and are subject to special protection as natural regions with specific status. 8 Section II. DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK 5. Increasing the Area of the National Environmental Network In order to increase the area of the national environmental network, the Programme provides for the following actions: 1) setting up objects of the natural reserve fund in areas, which meet the conditions of ensuring the protection of natural complexes (Annex 2); 2) increasing the area of lands granted for use to institutions of the natural reserve fund from 0.5 to 2 million hectares; 3) preserving natural landscapes in areas being of historical and cultural value; 4) including actions aimed at setting up and arranging the water protection zones and coastal protection belts of water objects in programmes of the ecological sanation of basins of Siversky Donets, Southern Boog, Dnister, Danube and Western Boog, implementing a special regime of the use of lands in river source areas; 5) forming transboundary nature protection areas of international importance; 6) setting up protective forest plantations and field protection forest belts, arranging meadows (Annex 3); 7) preserving the degraded and polluted lands with subsequent partial reforestation thereof (Annex 4); 8) maintaining natural landscapes in lands used for the industrial, transportation, communication and defence purposes; 9) increasing the area of forests in an environmentally appropriate manner. As a result of the implementation of the above actions, it is projected that the area of lands of the national environmental network will be as specified in Annex 5. 6. Restoration of the Natural Condition of Elements of the Environmental Network In areas being components of the national environmental network, it shall be ensured that special actions be taken aimed at the prevention of the destruction of or damage to natural landscapes, natural plant groupings entered in the Green Book of Ukraine, the preservation of animal and plant species entered in the Red Book of Ukraine, the improvement of their existence environment, the creation of appropriate conditions for their propagation in their natural state and dissemination. In order to ensure the performance of the environmental protection functions of the national environmental network, the Programme provides for the following actions: 1) the protection of the animal existence environment during their migration and wintering, and the creation of a system of the protection of animals; 2) the expansion of the network of water objects for the migration of fish; 3) the creation of conditions for the restoration of the diversity of species of plants and animals, and phyto-cenoses in natural zones; 4) the protection of wetlands of the international and national importance; 5) the implementation of actions aimed at preventing the detrimental impact on natural complexes of elements of the national environmental network; 6) the implementation of a system of taking the environmental protection actions in order to preserve natural complexes of elements of the national environmental network; 7) the preservation of populations of plant and animal species, special actions aimed at ensuring the migration of animals and plants at intersections of natural and transport corridors. 9 7. Development of the Integral Territorial Structure of the National Environmental Network The national environmental network shall include elements of the national and local importance to be identified on the basis of scientific, legal, technical, organisational, financial and economic criteria. The following shall be considered elements of the national environmental network of national importance: natural areas, where both existing natural reserve areas and those to be set up are concentrated. First of all, these are Carpathian Mountains, Crimean Mountains, Donets Ridge, Azov Highlands, Podillia Highlands, Polissia (marshy woodlands), sources of small rivers, certain estuary areas of large rivers, marine coastal area, the continental shelf, etc.; major communication elements of the national environmental network, namely, the latitudinal natural corridors ensuring the natural communications of zonal nature in Polissia (forest zone), Halychyna - Slobozhanshchyna (forest-steppe zone), Southern Ukraine (steppe zone), as well as meridional natural corridors limited in terms of their space with valleys of large rivers (Dnieper, Danube, Dnister, Western Boog, Southern Boog, Siversky Donets), which combine water and flood landscapes, i.e., the ways of the migration of numerous species of plants and animals. A separate natural corridor of international importance consists of a chain of coastal and marine natural landscapes of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, which surrounds the territory of Ukraine in the South. The list of major elements of the national environmental network of national importance is provided in Annex 6. Elements of the national environmental network being of local importance shall be identified in specific regional programmes and regional schemes of the environmental network development. 8. Organisation of Common Transboundary Elements of the National Environmental Network and the Pan-European Environmental Network The programme provides for the integration of the national environmental network with environmental networks of neighbouring countries being members of the Pan-European Environmental Network by means of setting up common transboundary elements of the environmental network within natural regions and natural corridors, agreeing upon the land use projects in border areas. The common transboundary elements of the national environmental network will be set up in co-operation with the following countries: the Republic of Poland (Western Polissia biosphere reserve, Eastern Carpathian biosphere reserve, Roztochany biosphere reserve); the Republic of Belarus (Western Polissia biosphere reserve, Rivne natural reserve, Prypiat-Stokhid national natural park); the Russian Federation (Snov natural reserve, Luhansk natural reserve, Desna-Stara Guta national natural park, Meotida national natural park, Donets Ridge national natural park); Romania (Danube biosphere reserve, Vyzhnytsia national natural park); the Republic of Moldova (Lower Dnister national natural park); the Slovak Republic (Eastern Carpathian biosphere reserve). The list of actions aimed at setting up the national environmental network of Ukraine and the scope of funds required for such actions are provided in Annexes 7 and 8. 10 Section III. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM 9. Regulatory and Legal Framework In order to ensure the implementation of the Programme, it is planned to adopt legal acts aimed at implementing the legal norms of the development of the national environmental network. To this end, the laws of Ukraine on the national environmental network of Ukraine, on the preservation of lands, on the economic incentives motivating the land owners and users to take actions aimed at the development and maintenance of the environmental network, on the coastal belt of the seas shall be adopted; appropriate changes shall be introduced in the Land Code of Ukraine, the Forest Code of Ukraine, the Water Code of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine “On Environmental Protection”, “On Ensuring the Sanitary and Epidemiological Well-being of the Population”. It is planned to develop and approve other regulatory and legal acts aimed at improving the economic mechanism related to the protection and restoration of natural landscapes, and the preservation of their biological diversity. In order to strengthen the liability for the violation of requirements of the legislation on the protection, use and restoration of the landscape diversity, it is planned to introduce changes in the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Administrative Misdemeanour Code of Ukraine. 10. Funding The implementation of the set of actions provided for hereby shall be financed from funds of the State Budget of Ukraine, the republican budget of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, local budgets, environmental protection funds in budgets of all levels, as well as from other sources, for instance grants of the Global Ecological Foundation and other international environmental organisations. The Programme may be funded by enterprises of all ownership forms and other legal entities. The major source of the coverage of expenses for the development of elements of the national environmental network being of national importance shall be the funds earmarked in the general and special funds of the State Budget of Ukraine for the actions aimed at the protection of the environment. The development of structural elements of the national environmental network being of local importance shall be funded from funds specified in appropriate sections of local budgets and local environmental protection funds. The feasibility study of actions aimed at developing the elements of the national environmental network being of national importance with approximate estimate of the results thereof shall be submitted annually as part of the draft State Economic and Social Development Programme of Ukraine for the coming year by a specifically authorised central executive agency being in charge of the issues of the ecology and natural resources of Ukraine, which is the party contracting the Programme on behalf of the state. 11. Scientific Support In order to provide the scientific support to the actions aimed at the development of the national environmental network, the Programme provides for the fundamental and applied research aimed at developing recommendations and methods of the preservation and restoration of the landscape diversity, including the evaluation of the current condition of natural landscapes, the justification of the most efficient actions, which will ensure the balanced and sustainable use of their natural resources, the inventory of natural complexes and components thereof, the organisation of keeping the cadastres of natural resources and the environmental monitoring 11 within the national environmental network, the establishment of appropriate databases and geographical information systems. 12. Organisational Support The organisational support to the implementation hereof shall be rendered by the specifically authorised central executive agency being in charge of the issues of the ecology and natural resources of Ukraine, together with concerned central and local executive authorities. This agency shall also control the implementation hereof. The agency ensuring the organisation of the Programme implementation shall submit reports to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on an annual basis, as well as the necessary information on the progress of the implementation of Programme tasks. On the basis of the provided information, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine shall adjust the Programme tasks, their contents and scope of funding. A deliberative body (Co-ordination Council) shall be set up to co-ordinate activities of the central and local executive agencies implementing the Programme. The membership of the body shall include officials of these agencies, representatives of public organisations and leading scientists. The co-ordination council shall also exercise the functions appertaining to: the organisation of the development of the general and regional schemes of the national environmental network development; the preparation of proposals related to the inclusion of the national environmental network in the General Zoning Diagram of the Territory of Ukraine as a special functional area; the preparation of proposals on the adjustment hereof, if necessary; the organisation of the compilation of the national report on the status of the development of the national environmental network once in 5 years. 13. Information about the Status of the National Environmental Network and the Public Participation in the Development Thereof In order to increase the level of the ecological education and training, and environmental awareness of the population, to make more active its participation in the implementation of actions aimed at the development of the national environmental network, the Programme provides for the following: the support to the establishment of new and the involvement of the existing public environmental expert centres in activities aimed at making the society realise the significance of the problem of the preservation of the landscape diversity and the existence environments of plant and animal species; the development and the implementation of proposals concerning the involvement of the population in the actions aimed at the development of the national environmental network, including young people and taking into account the experience of the out-of school environmental education in the field of the generation of the environmental culture and awareness of the problems of the environmental protection. Section IV. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION STAGES It is planned to implement the Programme till the year 2015 in two stages (2000-2005 and 2006-2015)/ At the first stage, it is planned to ensure the increase in the area of individual elements of the national environmental network, to apply economic levers of the support to their development in lands of all ownership forms, to develop the appropriate regulatory and legal framework, to undertake the necessary scientific research and take organisational actions. 12 At the second stage, it is planned to bring the area of the national environmental network to the level required for ensuring the environmental security of the country, commissioning a stable system of the environmental actions aimed at the preservation of the landscape and biological variety. Section V. SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESULTS OF THE PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION The Programme implementation will ensure the preservation and restoration of the landscape diversity and contribute to: maintaining the environmental balance on the territory of Ukraine; creating the natural conditions for the life and development of human beings in an environmentally balanced environment brought as close as possible to natural landscapes; preventing the irreversible loss of a part of the gene, demographic, cenotic and ecological pool of the country; ensuring the balanced and sustainable use of the nature in a considerable portion of the territory of Ukraine; developing the resource base for tourism, recreation and making the population healthier; increasing the natural resource potential in agricultural lands adjoining the national environmental network; improving the regulatory and legal framework of the environmental protection and harmonising the same with the international one; developing the Pan-European Environmental Network; ensuring the restoration of bio- and geochemical turnovers in the environment, reducing the threat of the degradation and the loss of fertility of lands; re-naturalising the lands withdrawn from the agricultural use; strengthening the co-ordination of activities of central and local executive agencies, local self-administration bodies, public environmental organisations in the field of the solution of problems of the environmental security of Ukraine. 13 Annex 1 to the Programme Areas Being Components of the National Environmental Network Area type Area thousand hectares as percentage of the total area of the country Hay harvesting area 2307.3 3.82 Pastures 5465.6 9.06 Forests and other areas covered with woods 10380.2 17.2 including: Forests 9424.6 15.62 Forest-type belts 645.5 1.07 Shrubs 310.1 0.51 Open marshes 940.4 1.56 Radioactively polluted lands not used for the economic purposes 136 0.21 Open lands not covered or slightly covered with vegetation 1180.8 1.96 Waters, total 2415 4 including: Natural watercourses 244 0.4 Artificial watercourses 162.2 0.27 Lakes 540.8 0.9 Artificial reservoirs 1133.7 1.88 Estuaries 334.3 0.55 TOTAL 22825.3 37.81 14 Annex 2 to the Programme Protected Areas and Objects of the Natural Reserve Fund of Ukraine Category of areas and objects of the natural reserve fund Area of lands thousand hectares as percentage of the total area of the country as of 01.09.2000 as of 2005 as of 2015 as of 01.09.2000 as of 2005 as of 2015 National natural parks 600 1455 2329 1.0 2.4 3.9 Natural reserves 160 350 422 0.3 0.6 0.7 Biosphere reserves 212 250 301 0.3 0.4 0.5 Other categories of the natural reserve fund 1427 2200 3223 2.4 3.6 5.3 TOTAL 2399 4255 6275 4 7 10.4 15 Annex 3 to the Programme Protective Forest Plantations, Field-protection Forest Belts, Meadow covered Degraded and Radioactively Polluted Lands—Projected Components of the National Environmental Network Region Area, thousand hectares protect ive forest plantations fieldprotection forest belts meado w covered degraded and radioactive lands Autonomous Republic of Crimea 9.66 5.6 30.5 Oblasts (provinces): Vinnitsa 18.2 0.7 38.6 Volyn 34.95 1.53 53.7 Dnipropetrovsk 109.62 17.88 261 Donetsk 36.83 10.45 51.6 Zhytomyr 90.55 0.7 3.2 Zakarpattia 1.17 0.23 14.9 Zaporizhia 33.78 16.6 248.4 Ivano-Frankivsk 7.89 0.68 10.9 Kyiv 45.67 2.76 46.3 Kirovograd 39.88 4.8 44 Luhansk 27.49 5.4 226.3 Lviv 7.15 0.28 29.4 Mykolaiv 72.28 20.8 72.8 Odessa 66.62 22.77 17.9 Poltava 105.55 9.02 168.5 Rivne 68.3 1.7 72.7 Sumy 6.54 2.26 54.9 Ternopil 11.11 0.5 63.7 Kharkiv 40.21 12.86 26.8 Kherson 16.48 20.42 25.8 Khmelnitsky 10.05 0.86 60.5 Cherkassy 44.52 5.97 48.2 Chernihiv 40.03 0.42 60.7 Chernivtsi 2.66 0.02 31.9 City of Kyiv 0.1 0.1 City of Sevastopol 0.61 0.1 0.4 TOTAL 947.9 174.31 1763.7 16 Annex 4 to the Programme Degraded and Polluted Lands Intended for the Conservation Region Area, thousand hectares Degraded and polluted lands Including the lands to be reforested Autonomous Republic of Crimea 31.9 1.4 Oblasts (provinces): Vinnitsa 42.6 4 Volyn 75 21.3 Dnipropetrovsk 347.4 86.4 Donetsk 66.4 14.8 Zhytomyr 79.2 76 Zakarpattia 15.1 0.2 Zaporizhia 256 7.6 Ivano-Frankivsk 14.8 3.9 Kyiv 84.3 38 Kirovograd 69.7 25.7 Luhansk 231.2 4.9 Lviv 29.4 Mykolaiv 87.8 15 Odessa 37.2 19.3 Poltava 267.6 99.1 Rivne 124.2 51.5 Sumy 58.2 3.3 Ternopil 63.7 Kharkiv 57.1 30.3 Kherson 33.25 7.45 Khmelnitsky 63.5 3 Cherkassy 80.84 32.64 Chernihiv 89.7 29 Chernivtsi 32.21 0.31 City of Kyiv 0.1 City of Sevastopol 0.8 0.4 TOTAL 2339.2 575.5 17 Annex 5 to the Programme Individual Components of the National Environmental Network Environmental network component Area, thousand hectares As percentage of the total area of the country As percentage of the area of the environmental network as of 2015 as of 01.09.2000 as of 2015 (proj.) as of 01.09.2000 as of 2015 (proj.) Hay harvesting areas and pastures 7772.9 9536.6 12.88 15.8 37.9 Forests and forested areas 10380.2 10955.7 17.2 18.15 43.55 Open marshy lands 940.4 940.4 1.56 1.56 3.75 Radioactively polluted lands not used for the purposes of the national economy 136 136 0.21 0.21 0.5 Open lands without vegetation or with inconsiderable vegetation 1180.8 1180.8 1.96 1.93 4.7 Waters 2415 2415 4 4 9.6 TOTAL: 22825.3 25164.5 37.81 41.68 100 18 Annex 6 to the Programme Major Elements of the National Environmental Network Being of National Importance Environmental Network Element Location (in terms of the physical and geographical conditions) Major areas and objects being components of the environmental network NATURAL REGIONS: Carpathian region Carpathian mountain country Carpathian, Roztochany, Eastern Carpathian biosphere reserves; Gorgany natural reserve; Synevyr, Carpathian, Uzh, Skole Beskydy, Hutsulshchyna national natural parks Prykarpattia and Opillia Halytsky national natural park Crimean mountain region Crimean mountain country Krymsky natural reserve, Yalta mountain and forest reserve, Karadag, Opuksky natural reserves. Sevastopol, Chatyr-Dag national natural parks Western Polissia region Western Polissia Western Polissia biosphere reserve; Cheremsky, Rivne, Southern Polissia natural reserves Central Polissia region Dnieper Polissia Polissky biosphere reserve, Dniprovsky, Desniansky natural reserves, Mezynsky, Korostyshyvsky, Ichniansky, Holosiyivsky national natural parks Eastern Polissia region Eastern Polissia Serednioseymsky, Desna-Stara Guta, Trostianets-Vorskla national natural parks Podillia Podillia Highlands Medobory natural reserve; Podilsky Tovtry, Kremenetski Hory, Central Podillia, Savransky Forest, Dnister Canyon national natural parks Middle Dnieper Middle Dnieper Ukrainian Forest Steppe Biosphere reserve; Cherkassky Bir, Kholodny Yar, Middle Dnieper, Trakhtemyrivsky, Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, 19 Chornolissky national natural parks, Kaniv natural reserve Donets Siversky Donets valley Sviati Hory, Siversky Donets, Slobozhansky, Homolshansky national natural parks Donets-Azov Donets Ridge, Azov Highlands Ukrainian Steppe Natural reserve; Priazovsky and Meotida national natural parks Tavria Dnieper-Molochna Interfluve Black Sea, Askania Nova biosphere reserves; Lower Dnieper, Azov-Sivash national natural parks Lower Dnister Lower course of Dnister valley Lower Dnister national natural park Lower Danube Lower course of Danube valley Danube biosphere reserve Azov Sea of Azov Kazantypsky, Opuksky natural reserves, Azov-Sivash, Sivash, Meotida national natural parks Black Sea Northeast shelf of the Black Sea Zernova Great Philofora Field, Small Philofora field, Dzharylgach, Kinburn Cape national natural parks NATURAL CORRIDORS: Polissia Forest zone Forests of the 1st and 2nd groups, marshes Halychyna Slobozhanshchyna Forest steppe zone Forests of the 1st and 2nd groups, forest belts, meadows, pastures Southern-Ukrainian Steppe zone Forest belts, pastures, hay harvesting areas Coastal Coastal belt of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea Internal marine waters, capes, shoals, beaches, islands Dnister Dnister valley Flood plains, shrubs, sloped lands with insignificant vegetation, forests, water objects Boog Southern and Western Boog valleys Hay harvesting areas, sloped lands with insignificant vegetation, forests, water objects Dnieper Dnieper valley Flood plains, shrubs, hay harvesting areas, sloped lands with insignificant vegetation, forests, water objects Siversky Donets Siversky Donets valley Flood plains, shrubs, hay 20 harvesting areas, sloped lands with insignificant vegetation, forests, water objects 21 Annex 7 to the Programme ACTIONS AIMED AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK Name of the object of the natural reserve fund (area, hectares) Budget code Estimated cost of work, UAH thousand >From the following sources: Time for completion (in years) broken by budget codes for each object state budget env. protec tion funds grants of int’l env. organisations 1. Development of designs for the establishment of natural reserve fund objects and the land allocation for the organisation of territories thereof National natural parks to be established Priazovsky, 20 thousand 200600 240600 320 220 100 2000-2002 Meotida, 15 thousand 200600 240600 120 70 50 2000-2002 Sivash, 195 thousand 200600 240600 400 300 100 2000-2002 Prypiat-Stokhid, 50 thousand 200600 240600 450 300 150 2000-2002 Svidovets, 15 thousand 200600 240600 120 70 50 2001-2003 Halytsky, 14 thousand 200600 240600 70 40 30 2001-2003 Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2001-2003 Hutsulshchyna, 50 thousand 200600 240600 400 300 100 2001-2003 Dnister Canyon, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2002-2004 Dzharylgach, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2002-2004 Trostianets-Vorskla, 40 thousand 200600 240600 300 200 100 2002-2004 Siversky Donets, 20 thousand 200600 240600 160 100 60 2003-2005 22 Granite Steppe Boog, 5 thousand 20600 40 40 2003-2005 Velyky Loog, 40 thousand 200600 240600 300 200 100 2003-2005 Lower Sula, `7 thousand 200600 240600 140 100 40 2004-2006 Central Podillia, 15 thousand 200600 240600 120 80 40 2004-2006 Samarsky Bir, 20 thousand 200600 240600 160 100 60 2005-2007 Precarpathian, 20 thousand 200600 240600 160 100 60 2005-2007 Dykankivsky, 15 thousand 200600 240600 120 80 40 2006-2008 Slobozhansky, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2006-2008 Kinburn Cape, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2007-2009 Trakhtemyrivsky, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2008-2010 Lower Dnieper, 50 thousand 200600 240600 400 300 100 2009—2011 Krymsky, 25 thousand 200600 240600 200 130 70 2010-2012 Savransky Forest, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2011-2013 Chatyr-Dag, 5 thousand 200600 40 40 2012-2014 Saki, 10 thousand 200600 240600 80 50 30 2013-2015 Zernova Great Philofora Field, 100 thousand 200600 100 100 2013-2015 Small Philofora field, 30 thousand 200600 60 60 2013-2015 Biosphere reserves to be established: Western Polissia, 40 thousand 200600 240600 280 200 80 2000-2002 Eastern Carpathian, 50 thousand 200600 240600 350 250 100 2000-2002 Krymsky, 40 thousand 200600 240600 320 250 70 2001-2003 Roztochany, 25 thousand 200600 240600 170 120 50 2012-2015 Polissia, 50 thousand 200600 240600 350 250 100 2004-2006 23 Ukrainian Forest Steppe, 50 thousand 200600 240600 350 250 100 2010-2012 Donets Ridge, 20 thousand 200600 240600 140 100 40 2012-2015 Natural reserves to be expanded Medobory, 2 thousand 200600 20 20 2000-2002 Polissia, 14 thousand 200600 240600 100 80 20 2001-2003 Dnieper-Oril, 505 200600 10 10 2002-2004 Biosphere reserves to be expanded Carpathian, 10 thousand 200600 240600 70 50 20 2002-2004 Danube, 20 thousand 200600 240600 140 100 40 2003-2005 Black Sea, 50 thousand 200600 50 50 2005-2007 National natural parks to be expanded Vyzhnytsia, 3 thousand 200600 20 20 2001-2003 Synevyr, 3 thousand 200600 20 20 2001-2003 Podillia Tovtry, 20 thousand 200600 240600 100 70 30 2002-2004 Uzh, 10 thousand 200600 50 50 2003-2005 Sviati Hory, 10 thousand 200600 50 50 2004-2006 TOTAL 7410 5270 2140 Note: The Programme does not cover the establishment of new natural reserve fund areas under the National Dnieper Basin Environmental Sanation and Potable Water Quality Improvement Programme (123/97-VR) approved by Resolution of the Supreme Council (Parliament) of Ukraine of 27 February 1997 as follows: Stara Guta biosphere reserve (8 thousand hectares); Dniprovsky (55 thousand hectares), Desniansky (54 thousand hectares), Southern Polissia (15 thousand hectares) natural reserves; Holosiyivsky, (3 thousand hectares), Ichniansky (46.68 thousand hectares), Mezynsky (31.6 thousand hectares), Cherkassky Bir (40 thousand hectares), Serednioseymsky (2 thousand hectares), Chornolissky (15 thousand hectares), Kholodny Yar (6 thousand hectares), Dnieper-Boog (50 thousand hectares), Korostyshyvsky (20 thousand hectares), Kostopilsky (30 thousand hectares), Middle Dnieper (300 thousand hectares) national natural parks. Actions Budget code Estimat ed cost of work, UAH thousan d From the following sources: Time for completion (in years) broken by budget codes for each object 24 state budget env. protec tion funds grants of int’l env. organisations 2. Keeping the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine Setting up an automated system for keeping the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 240600 400 200 200 2000-2002 Taking inventory of natural complexes of areas and objects of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 240600 2000 2000 2001-2015 Setting up and keeping a single geographical information system and database, preparing the reporting materials of the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 200600 240600 1500 500 500 500 2001-2015 Issue of the reporting materials of the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 200600 200 200 2001-2015 TOTAL: 4100 700 2700 700 3. Preservation of populations of species of animals and plants Development of regulatory documents and keeping the state cadastres of flora and fauna 200600 240600 11200 6000 5200 2000-2015 Inventory of habitats of plant species entered in the Red Book of Ukraine and plant groupings entered in the Green Book of Ukraine 200600 240600 1500 500 1000 2000-2015 Assessment of the status of populations of plant and animal species entered in the Red Book of Ukraine 240600 700 700 2000-2015 Establishment of centres for artificial rearing of rare and endangered species of plants and animals 200600 240600 200 100 100 2002-2005 25 Establishment of centres for the storage of the genetic material of rare and endangered species of plants and animals 200600 3000 3000 2002-2015 TOTAL: 16600 6600 6900 3100 4. Taking actions arising from the performance of commitments of Ukraine under international treaties Setting up the national and regional databases of the environmental network 200700 500 500 2000-2005 Development of the General Scheme of the National Environmental Network Development 200700 800 400 400 2000-2002 Development of regional schemes of the environmental network development 200700 2500 2500 2001-2005 Compilation of the national list of objects of the natural heritage 200700 300 300 2002-2004 Identification of new wetlands meeting the criteria of wetlands of international importance 200700 400 400 2001-2015 Development of management plans for wetlands of international importance 200700 1000 1000 2001-2015 Identification of areas of special interest in respect of their preservation within the natural reserve fund of Ukraine according to 1979 Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats 200700 800 400 400 2001-2005 Identification of areas of special interest in respect of their preservation according to 1979 Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats outside the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 200700 400 200 200 2001-2005 26 Preparation of descriptions of the most valuable objects of the natural reserve fund for the award of the European Diploma of the Council of Europe 200700 100 100 2001-2005 Preparation of descriptions of the relevant objects of the natural reserve fund for entering them into a special list of bio-genetic natural areas 200700 100 100 2006-2015 Compilation of lists of wetlands of national importance 200700 100 100 2006-2015 Compilation of lists of wetlands of local importance 200700 700 700 2006-2015 Development of management plans for wetlands of national importance 200700 800 800 2001-2015 TOTAL: 8500 3100 5400 5. Scientific work to support the implementation of the Programme Development of proposals for the improvement of the system of the development of the environmental network of natural areas with different level of the anthropogenic influence, methods and criteria of the identification of natural areas for the preservation of the landscape diversity by turning them into reserves 040202 500 500 2000-2015 Study of the species, cenosis diversity and the middle- and large-scale mapping of natural complexes and components thereof for the purposes of the comprehensive monitoring, the establishment of geographical information systems 040202 3000 3000 2000-2015 27 Development of a system of criteria for the assessment of the condition of components of ecosystems of natural reserve areas on the basis of their scientific, recreational and social importance. The development of methodologies of the economic valuation of natural reserve areas 040202 300 300 2000-2015 Development and implementation of methods and techniques of the sociotechnical basis of the biodiversity of the natural reserve fund. The development of the concept and strategy of the ecosystem protection and management in national natural parks 040202 700 700 2000-2015 Development of the scientific model of the organisation of the monitoring of the environment in areas of the natural reserve fund and keeping of the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 040202 2500 2500 2000-2015 TOTAL: 7000 7000 PROGRAMME GRAND TOTAL: 43610 22670 11740 9200 28 Annex 8 to the Programme GENERAL ALLOCATION OF FUNDS REQUIRED FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR YEARS 2000-2015 (BY STAGES AND SOURCES OF FUNDS) UAH ‘000 No. General Actions Subtotal Broken down by years 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2015 1 Development of designs for the establishment of natural reserve fund objects and the land allocation for the organisation of territories thereof 7410 940 800 760 700 700 700 2810 2 Keeping the state cadastre of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine 4100 400 250 250 200 200 200 2600 3 Preservation of populations of species of animals and plants 16600 250 250 250 250 250 250 15100 4 Taking actions arising from the performance of commitments of Ukraine under international treaties 8500 500 500 500 500 500 6000 5 Scientific work to support the implementation of the Programme 7000 400 440 440 440 440 440 4400 TOTAL: 43610 1990 2240 2200 2090 2090 2090 30910 from the following sources: State Budget 22670 540 590 600 440 440 440 19260 Environmental protection fund 11740 600 800 750 800 800 800 7190 Grants of international environmental organisations 9200 850 850 850 850 850 850 4100