Protection of relief of the Ukrainian Carpathians: state and prospects

Анотація

The aims of the study are to analyze the current state of protection of various relief types within reserves, national parks, and regional landscape parks (RLPs) and geomorphological sites, as well as geomorphosites of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Additionally, the study aims to develop proposals for optimizing relief protection and its use for environmental, scientific, natural, and recreational purposes. The methodology involves a general geomorphological analysis of the relief in nature conservation territories of the Ukrainian Carpathians, based on systematization and comparison of up-to-date cartographic and descriptive materials. This includes comparing the map “Geomorphological structure (morphostructure and morpho­sculpture) of the Ukrainian Carpathians” (Hnatyuk et al., 2007), borrowed cartographic materials from projects on the organization of reserves and national parks within the region, and information on regional landscape parks, nature reserves, and natural monuments from the cadastres of the nature reserve fund of the administrative regions of the Carpathian region. The special representativeness of relief types was obtained using QGIS.

The authors assessed the degree of representativeness of relief types within the territories of reserves and national parks, presenting their findings in dedicated tables and maps. Additionally, maps depicting the locations of reserves, national parks, geomorphological sites, and regional landscape parks within the geomorphological zoning of the Ukrainian Carpathians were created. The character of protection for various geomorphological areas of the mountain and foothill parts of the region was clarified.

Within the territories of reserves and national parks, the mid-mountain relief and geological structure of the Polonynsko-Chornohirska, Skibova, Vododilno-Verkhovyna geomorphological regions, and the Marmarosh crystalline massif are the best represented. Conversely, the relief of the Zakarpattia Plain is the least protected. In total, seven relief types are unprotected within reserves and national parks – two common in the mountainous areas and five in the foothills of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The highest regional geomorphological representativeness is found in the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve (BR), Carpathian National Park, and Cheremoshsky RLP, while the typological representativeness is highest in Hutsulshchyna National Park and the Carpathian BR. The Synevyr NNP and Carpathian NNP have somewhat lower typological representativeness, with the lowest diversity observed in the relief of the Zacharovany Krai NNP. The Prytysyansky and Chernivtsi Regional Landscape Parks, due to their cluster structure, significantly improve the protection status of foothill relief types and the typical and unique relief forms of the Ukrainian Carpathians. An analysis of landforms with protected status shows that the highest concentration of geomorphological sites is in the Skiba Carpathians (64 sites), dominated by rocks (37) and waterfalls (19), and in the Polonynsko-Chornohirske Carpathians (31 sites), dominated by rocks (12), caves (11), and relict glacial formations.

Proposals have been developed for optimizing the protection of the region’s relief and its utilization for environmental, scientific, natural history, and recreational purposes. To enhance the protection of relief types, it is recommended to establish national parks within the Beskid Predkarpattya, Zakarpattia Plain, Verkhnyaya Tysenskaya Depression, and Vygorlat-Gutynsky Volcanic Ridge.

Key words: Ukrainian Carpathians; geomorphological regions; geomorphosites; types of relief; reserve, national park, regional landscape parks.