Uzhanskyi National Nature Park ( uk, Ужанський національний природний парк) is a protected area in Ukraine. It is located in

Velykyi Bereznyi Raion Velykyi Bereznyi Raion ( uk, Великоберезнянський район) was a raion of Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the urban-type settlement of Velykyi Bereznyi. The raion was abolished and its terr ...

Zakarpattia Oblast The Zakarpattia Oblast ( uk, Закарпатська область, Zakarpatska oblast) is an administrative oblast located in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is ...

, at the border with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. The park was created on 5 August 1999 and has the area of . Since 2007, it is part of the World Heritage site

Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts (forests of European beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'') in 18 European countr ...

. It is also part of the

East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve The East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve is a transboundary protected area, designated as an area of global importance under UNESCO's Programme on Man and the Biosphere.It is located in the Eastern Carpathians and includes parts of three countries: P ...

. The park was created to protect pristine

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

forest of the Carpathians.

History

In 1908, when the Transcarpathia still belonged to the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, a nature reserve in the upper valley of the Stuzhychanka River to protect the beech forest landscape. The area of the reserve was . At the same time, a forest reserve of the area of was created in the upper valley of the

Uzh River The Uzh ( uk, Уж; translit. ''Uzh''; sk, Uh; hu, Ung, pl, Uż) is a river in Ukraine and Slovakia. Its name comes from the ancient west Slavic dialect word ''už'', meaning "Snake", (lat. "Serpentes"). The Uzh is a tributary of the Labor ...

. Between 1919 and 1938, the Transcarpathia belonged to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and both reserves were considerably expanded in area. Another reserve was created on the Yavirnyk Mountain. After World War II, the area was completely neglected, and mass timber production started. In 1974, during the Soviet period, Stuzhytsia Forest Landscape Reserve was established. The area of the reserve was . In 1995, the reserve was upgraded to a regional landscape park, and in 1999 to a national nature park.Uzhansky NNP/General Information/History of creation.
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Geography

The park is located in the valleys of the

and its tributaries in the western slopes of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

. The highest point of the park is Kinchyk Bukovskyi Mountain (). Uzhanskyi National Nature Park contains four altitude zones, including

forest,

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

forest, and, above , alpine meadows. Climate is temperate, with the annual rainfall being around (, and temperatures in winter below zero, so that the mountains are covered by snow.

Ecosystem

There are over 1500 species of plants in the park; about 22 of

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

species are endemic, and 52 species, including 23 species of

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

, are protected at the national level. Big mammals include

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

, and

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united b ...

. There are 114 bird species.

Tourism and infrastructure

The area is populated by

Lemkos Lemkos ( rue, Лeмкы, translit= Lemkŷ; pl, Łemkowie; uk, Лемки, translit=Lemky) are an ethnic group inhabiting the Lemko Region ( rue, Лемковина, translit=Lemkovyna; uk, Лемківщина, translit=Lemkivshchyna) of Car ...

and has a strong influence of their culture. In particular, six wooden churches built in 17th-18th centuries survived inside the park. 17 trails are signposted within the park.

References

{{authority control Protected areas of Zakarpattia Oblast National parks of Ukraine Protected areas established in 1999 Primeval Beech Forests in Europe