Many people are now going to vacation in the mountains, far away from everyday troubles. The Carpathians have always been popular, but the annexation of Crimea is now making them into a true “tourist Mecca” of Ukraine. They provide a comfortable environment for everyone, ranging from plants to humans and animals. Look, for instance, at these two lizards luxuriating on fragrant juniper branches. They are probably an expectant couple in love. He hugs her, and they do not pay even slightest attention to the curious photographer, being too happy to notice them. Well, everyone feels happy and at home in the Carpathians. However, to preserve this island of comfort, one should behave like at home as well, that is, maintain this environment in order.
“One can discard garbage somewhere nearby, or look for a dedicated location. One can invade the forest with a car and hurt it, but then one can avoid doing so. One can build a fire with brushwood collected nearby, or follow some people’s bad example and cut down a tree to take some dry branches from its top,” deputy head of the National Ecological Centre of Ukraine Oleksii Vasyliuk reflected. “In the Carpathians, just as in any other place, people should always take into account whether their actions will make things worse.” Incidentally, major eco-tourism festival Cheremosh Fest has recently ended in the Carpathians. Many people came to the village of Verkhnii Yaseniv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. They listened to music, floated on rafts, tasted delicious sheep cheese, but the main purpose of the event was to support the creation of a hydrological reserve on the Bily Cheremosh River. Thus, the Carpathians do awaken our “ecological conscience.”
“The Carpathians’ nature is better preserved than in other regions, but it is not having it all that well at the moment. We see large-scale deforestation, plans to build major hydroelectric power plants... Moreover, both the tourists and the locals shamelessly discard garbage in the forest,” Vasyliuk said. Rare animals suffer from human intrusion as well. The Carpathians host salamanders, newts, and fire-bellied toads, all listed as endangered species in the Red Book of Ukraine. These tiny animals gather in puddles to lay eggs in springtime. However, the only puddles on the slopes of the Carpathians are located on the roadside. It is in spring as well that people race their jeeps along the region’s roads. Commonly, one sees up to 40 SUVs stretched along a road which salamanders from the entire area have come to. The outcome is clear. So, one should not take a car into the Carpathians in spring, and in summer too. Why bother animals with the roar of engines or spoil the air with exhaust fumes? In addition, traveling on foot allows one to see more attractions.
By the way, the humans are the most dangerous animals in the Carpathians. “Dangerous wildlife is absent from the Carpathians. You can try to scare someone with tales of bears and wolves, but neither predator has ever harmed any human in the Carpathians,” Vasyliuk smiled. Now, having recalled the basic rules of the “forest etiquette,” we can safely go to the mountains, to come closer to the skies, peace, and simple joy of being alive.
