Protection for Tysa Floodplain Forests -- Ukraine's riverine "jungle"

Some of Europe's last remaining floodplain forests on the Upper Tysa river in northwestern Ukraine are now under protection. In August, the Transcarpathian Regional Assembly of Transcarpathia (Zakarpatskaya Oblast) voted to formally establish the protected area of Prytysianski, including 10,600 ha of floodplain forests in the Upper Tysa floodplain. Protection of the area caps six years of work by researchers and WWF in the area.

"The decision of the Transcarpathian Regional Assembly to protect the Tysa floodplain forests is a major step toward the long-term preservation of these floodplain forests, which are of European importance," said Andreas Beckmann, director of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme.

Ukrainian jungle

Flooded forests are now extremely rare in Europe and are among the most endangered habitats in the world. The flooded forests of Transcarpathia are an outstanding relic of the forests, which have been reduced to only a few patches. They are part of a larger landscape in the upper Tysa (Hungarian: Tisza; German: Theiss) River Basin that is a priority for WWF's conservation activities in the region.

The 10,600 ha now in the Prytysianski Protected Area is roughly half of the total area of riverine forests in the area that WWF is seeking to protect. The remarkable forests are the creation of the Tysa river and its tributaries that emerge from the slopes of the Carpathian Mountains and flow south and west through the Pannonian plain in Hungary, draining eventually into the mighty Danube and from there into the Black Sea.

The regular flooding of the rivers delivers a rich mixture of nutrients that acts like growth hormones for the trees and plants in the floodplains. As a result, oaks and ash grow as high as 46 m in height. The floods also limit the extent to which the trees must compete with one another for water and nutrients, making it possible for them to grow close together. Thanks to these attributes, the area is sometimes referred to as Ukraine's "jungle".

Royal recognition

The location of the Tysa floodplain forests, close to Romania and Hungary and the western border of the former Soviet Union, has effectively restricted any large-scale investigation of their wildlife and sustainable use. The economic growth of Ukraine is now leading to growing pressure to exploit the forests quickly, and corruption, excessive logging and timber smuggling have caused serious economic and environmental problems for the region and could mean an end to these globally important forests.

The efforts to research and protect the forests have been ongoing since 2003, led by Dr Bohdan Prots, a Senior Research Scientist and Supervisor of the “Plant Ecology” Laboratory of the State Museum of Natural History and Senior Project Coordinator of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme in Ukraine. In 2007, Prots received the prestigious Whitley Award in recognition of his efforts to protect the outstanding natural values of the region.