Have you ever read in the local press obituaries on the trees that failed to be saved? And have you ever seen at least one 1,000-year-old oak or linden under every branch of which there is a support and an explanatory notice and near which there is a recreation area? You may not have heard about state prizes and awards for civic organizations and individuals who deal with protecting rare trees. Meanwhile, this is the way most European countries care about age-old trees. But in this country over 70 percent of the 1,000-year-old plants need urgent help and treatment. This is the conclusion of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center and the State Nature Preservation Service, which have taken inventory of Ukraine’s oldest trees.
What worries the environmentalists the most is the situation with Shevchenko’s oak trees — thus named because they grow in the locality where the poet worked as a house servant and, as legend has it, would hide his drawings in tree hollows. The survey showed that a number of Shevchenko’s oaks are in a very deplorable condition: with large hollows that need remedying and broken branches, without warning signs or any indications that it is a rare tree.
“We want to prove on the example of Shevchenko’s oaks that all centuries-old trees need to be saved, because some of them are protected by the law and some not, some have already died, and some are facing this danger,” says Volodymyr Boreiko, director of the Kyiv Ecological and Cultural Center. “As is known, our center and the State Nature Preservation Service recently took inventory of Ukraine’s oldest trees. In line with its results, we are deciding on what is to be done to preserve the age-old plants.
“Our attention was especially focused on the three oak trees that grow in the village of Budyshche, Cherkasy oblast. Two of them are about 1,000 years old and one is 900. In our opinion, these trees are precious not only for being natural monuments but also for being associated with the poet’s name. Only two trees enjoy protected plant status, and the third one should be given this status immediately, for it has a huge hollow and may easily catch fire due to absence of a lightning conductor. The trouble is that somebody may draw up a report that the tree poses a threat and cut it down without having to pay any fine. The other oaks have neither a fence nor a protective sign, as it should be under the nature preservation law. But these trees are the living monuments of our nation’s great history. In particular, they are the still-surviving eyewitness of the great poet.”
According to the environmentalist, the factors that cause the death of centuries-old oak trees are the low ecological culture of people who often burn out hollows, which sets fire to the whole tree, and forest clearing, when trees are felled because they are allegedly of no economic value. The best way to save rare oaks is to grant them the status of a natural monument. Poland has granted this status to 55,000 trees, while the UK and Italy to 22,000. In our country there are only 2,600 protected trees, while the area of Ukraine is far larger than that of those states. Besides, Europe has long been publishing books on age-old trees, making TV and radio programs, and entering them in a state register and computer databases.
COMMENTARIES
Anatolii CHABAN, deputy chairman for humanitarian issues, Cherkasy Oblast Administration:
“The most famous natural monument in Cherkasy oblast is Maksym Zalizniak’s oak in Kholodny Yar. It is about a thousand years old. The tree, which witnessed such a memorable event as the foundation of a Cossack state by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, stands next to the famous St. Motrona Monastery. It is in Kholodny Yar where the Koliivshcyna rebellion began. In 1917–1921 it was known as Kholodny Yar Republic. So this natural monument also symbolizes important historical events.
“There also is an alley of thousand-year-old oak trees in Zvenyhorodka raion, in whose hollows Taras Shevchenko used to hide his drawings. These objects are being studied by historians, regional ethnographers, and human rights champions in order to save these natural monuments for our descendants.
“In general, there is still very much work to do to preserve natural monuments in the Cherkasy region. For example, the Sofiivka Dendrological Park is known all over the world, while a dendrological park in Korsun-Shevchenkivsky raion and a manmade park in the village of Vakhutyntsi are not.
“By establishing natural preserves, we can prevent historically important lands from being misused. To this end, we are doing our best to enlarge the Kaniv Natural Preserve (one of Ukraine’s oldest preserves), by adding to it about 5,000 hectares of protected historical areas. We are planning to turn it into a biosphere reserve in the future. This means our region has an effective system of natural monument salvation, which began with Zalizniak’s oak and is now a matter of public concern.
“Also of great importance is environmental education of Ukrainians, because no matter what financial aid the state may offer to protect natural monuments, the ultimate success is impossible without love of and caring attitude to nature.”
Liudmyla SHEVCHENKO, director general, ethnographic reserve Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland:
“Centuries-old oak-trees should be protected, which is important from ecological, natural, historical and cultural viewpoints, because it is a link between the present day and history. As for the oaks in Budyshche, Zvenyhorodka raion, which are associated with Taras Shevchenko’s childhood, they need to be scientifically researched because specialists differ about the ways to preserve them. In our place, for example, the oak’s hollows have been filled with cement, while Sofiivka Dendrological Park specialists oppose this technique: in their view, hollows should be treated with a material that has almost natural properties.
“Given the age of our trees — 500, 800 or 1,000 years — this polyphony of ideas about their preservation does not suit us, because we would like to prevent them from ruin as much as possible — these are historical landmarks, the beauty of our region.
“It is also important to educate people about taking care of nature, beginning from the family and the kindergarten: children should be told about the importance of nature for man and about a caring attitude to both natural and architectural monuments. There must be a reverent attitude to nature, and one must show this by their own example. For example, children can be taken to historical places even at an early age. Let us speak fewer words and do more deeds — only then will there be such a thing as public environmental education.
“In our raion, anybody — be it an old or a young person — will walk you to Shevchenko’s age-old oaks. And this is very good. Any monument is precious for an individual and the public not only because one can watch it from outside but also because people keep coming from other regions and are stunned to see that it takes eight grownup persons to embrace our oak. People like having photos taken in front of the oaks, spend their spare time, and even date here. In other words, the tree becomes a symbol for people. I am pleased that people are taking a respectful attitude to Shevchenko’s oaks. It is how it should be.”
Tetiana TYMOCHKO, deputy chairperson, All-Ukrainian Ecological League:
“Our task is not only to take care of and protect centuries-old trees but also to forestall any large-scale clearing of woodlands. For example, we have long struggled against the cutting-down of oak trees in Feofania, Kyiv, to build a medical center — and we succeeded. Now that Ukraine is going to set up national parks, there is also a need to protect certain isolated trees all over Ukraine. For instance, almost 1,800-year-old junipers have survived on the Crimea’s southern coast. These are absolutely unique trees, and if somebody in Europe knew about them, tourists would have beaten a path to that place, and we would be also reaping an economic benefit from preserving rare plants. Unfortunately, the state is too cash-strapped to do so.
“Our organization insists that the Ministry for Environmental Protection should keep record of not only large facilities, such as natural reserves and national parks, but also of unique trees. It is not a certain civic organization but serious research institutions, together with governmental and non-governmental organizations, that should assess their age, value, and status. To save age-old trees for more than one decade ahead, one must, first of all, legitimize their natural monument status and supply them with protective plaques that will have interesting information on the value and uniqueness of a tree.
“A lot depends here not only on municipal bureaucrats but also on Ukraine’s grassroots, for a low level of environmental culture and education causes such unique trees to be destroyed. It is, of course, not a ministry official who comes and breaks the tree branches — it is picnickers, especially young ones, who are to blame. We will achieve no result unless we take all the necessary educational, ecological, and legislative measures.”
