The Svydovets (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Свидовець;

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

''Świdowiec'';

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

and Slovak ''Svidovec'';

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

''Swydiwez'') is a mountain range in western

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, one of the ranges of

Eastern Beskids The Eastern Beskids or Eastern Beskyds ( uk, Східні Бескиди; pl, Beskidy Wschodnie; rue, Выходны Бескиды; ro, Beskizii Orientali; russian: Восточные Бескиды) are a geological group of mountain ranges o ...

, itself belonging to the

Outer Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya S ...

. It is a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the co ...

in the

Ukrainian Carpathians The Ukrainian Carpathians ( uk, Українські Карпати) are a section of the Eastern Carpathians, within the borders of modern Ukraine. They are located in the southwestern corner of Western Ukraine, within administrative territor ...

. The territories of the Svydovets mountain range belong to the state. The highest peak of the range is Blysnyzi mountain (1883 m). The ''Black Tisza'', the source of

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

, is one of the more fullflowing rivers of the region, it flows out from the Svydovets.

Flora and fauna

The Svydovets is home to 42 plant species and 51 animal species that are listed in the

Red Data Book of Ukraine The ''Red Data Book of Ukraine'', or literally the ''Red Book of Ukraine'' ( uk, Червона книга України, Chervona knyha Ukrayiny), is an official national red list of the threatened animals, plants and fungi that are protected by t ...

as endangered. The red-listed plant species include the

Rhodiola rosea ''Rhodiola rosea'' (commonly golden root, rose root, roseroot, Aaron's rod, Arctic root, king's crown, ''lignum rhodium'', orpin rose) is a perennial flowering plant in the family Crassulaceae. It grows naturally in wild Arctic regions of Europe ...

, the Carpathian

saxifrage ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 465 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...

, the fir clubmoss (

Huperzia selago ''Huperzia selago'', the northern firmoss or fir clubmoss, is a vascular plant in the family Lycopodiaceae. It has a circumpolar distribution in temperate and boreal regions in both hemispheres. Distribution and habitat It is found in the north ...

), and the stiff clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum). The endangered animal species include the

European brown bear The Eurasian brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'') is one of the most common subspecies of the brown bear, and is found in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European brown bear, common brown bear, common bear, and colloquially by many ot ...

, the

Eurasian lynx The Eurasian lynx (''Lynx lynx'') is a medium-sized wild cat widely distributed from Northern, Central and Eastern Europe to Central Asia and Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. It inhabits temperate and boreal forests up to an eleva ...

, the

black grouse The black grouse (''Lyrurus tetrix''), also known as northern black grouse, Eurasian black grouse, blackgame or blackcock, is a large game bird in the grouse family. It is a sedentary species, spanning across the Palearctic in moorland and step ...

, and the Eurasian eagle-owl. There are also species endemic to the region like the Carpathian newt (Lissotriton montandoni). All of the ten

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

species of European deciduous forests can be found in the Svydovets. There are three lakes, located on the Svydovets range: the high-mountain lake Apshynets (also referred to as Troiaska), Vorozheska and the glacial high-mountain pond Heryshaska (or Dohiaska), with little algae, the most common of the fauna are microscopic

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s. Two mountain ranges in the Ukrainian Carpathians, Borzhava and Svydovets, are protected under the

Emerald Network The Emerald network is a network of Areas of Special Conservation Interest to conserve wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats of Europe, which was launched in 1989 by the Council of Europe as part of its work under the Convention on the ...

of environmentally important conservation areas established by the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

. The

Natura 2000 network Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

apply there.

Environmental degradation

Plans to build ski resorts in the Carpathians have long faced opposition from environmentalists, who warn they will drive

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

and

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

in the protected areas, exacerbate floods in the Carpathians, and harm endangered species. In July 2016, the then-governor of

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 ...

, Hennadiy Moskal, was the first to announce the idea of a mega ski resort on the Svydovets mountain range. The project area spans

Tiachiv Raion Tiachiv Raion ( uk, Тячівський район, ro, Raionul Teceu , hu, Técsői járás) is a raion in Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Tiachiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrativ ...

and

Rakhiv Raion Rakhiv Raion ( uk, Рахівський район, ro, Raionul Rahău, hu, Rahói járás) is a raion in Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is Rakhiv. Population: On 18 July 2020, as part of the administrative r ...

. Three villages are directly affected:

Yasinia Yasinia ( uk, Ясіня, hu, Körösmező, sk, Jasiňa) is an urban-type settlement in Rakhiv Raion of Zakarpattia Oblast in Ukraine. Population: . It was the site of the Hutsul Republic after World War I, and the birthplace of several pr ...

, Black Tisza and Lopukhiv. Moskal supported the establishment of the ski resort, financed by unknown investors. He announced that the existing

Bukovel Bukovel is the largest ski resort in Eastern Europe situated in Ukraine, in Nadvirna Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast ( province) of western Ukraine. A part of it is in state property. The resort is located almost on the ridge-lines of the Carpat ...

ski resort, which as later exposed was controlled by companies linked to Ihor Kolomoisky (third richest man in Ukraine and owner of the television station that launched the career of President

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

), would expand to include the Svydovets mountain range. Government officials have lobbied for approval of the project. While the competent authorities continued to present the Svydovets resort as a government initiative, the billion-dollar plan was in fact designed as a gigantic expansion of the privat Bukovel ski resort. The construction of a large-scale infrastructure in the undisturbed mountain area of Svydovets threatened the whole ecosystem and the hydrological systems throughout the wider region. The legal problems of the promoters of the controversial Svydovets ski resort raised the question if they are trustworthy and reliable partners for a large-scale project that implies the privatization of 1430 hectares of state lands. In June 2019 the report ‘''Svydovets Case: How oligarchs are planning to destroy one of Ukraine’s most pristine natural landscapes''‘ was presented in Kyiv. This report described the issue of the mega ski resort construction. In November 2019,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

reported that the disgraced oligarch Kolomoisky was behind the "bizarre ski resort plan".

Geography

Svydovets hosts one of the ten units of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, recognised as a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2007. The higher peaks include: * Blysnyzi (Близниці - 1883 meters) * Tataruka (Татарука - 1774 meters) * Dohjaska (Догяска - 1764 meters) * Unharjaska (Унгаряска - 1707 meters)

References

Sources

* *

External links

Carpathian Mountains: Division (map)

Environmental justice organizations

* Free Svydovets - https://freesvydovets.org/en/ * European Wilderness Society - https://wilderness-society.org/ * Bruno Manser Fonds - http://www.bmf.ch/waldkarpaten/en/ * European Civic Forum - http://civic-forum.eu/ * WWF Global - http://wwf.panda.org/?325650/Petition-to-save-Svydovets-massif-in-Ukraine-initiated Mountain ranges of Ukraine Mountain ranges of the Eastern Carpathians Primeval Beech Forests in Europe {{Zakarpattia-geo-stub