Volodymyr Hetman

The famous French writer Jules Renard once said: “On earth there is no heaven, but there are pieces of it.” This also concerns pristine nature — the embodiment of earthly beauty, a prototype of God’s paradise; it is a sacred place, a site for purification from daily routine. The term “national park...

About two years ago, the president of Ukraine signed two edicts to set up two national parks. What made one wary was the issuance of subsequent edicts on the establishment of 11 more national parks, two nature reserves, one botanical garden, and a landscape reserve. Fifteen nature reserves re-...

The Ukrainian Black Sea region is a territory that has been greatly changed by man. Dating to the times of Aratta, Oriana, Olvia, and Artania, the history of this land is incomparably rich. This is the land of the Scythians, which was crossed by the Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars, Pechenegs,...

As a geomorphic form of relief, the plateau-like Podolian Upland extends from northwestern to southeastern Ukraine. Stretching in the same direction are the ridges of the Ukrainian Carpathians, the Dnipro and Dnister Uplands, as well as the tributaries of the Dnister, Boh, and Dnipro rivers. The...

High on the list of the negative consequences of man’s modern influence on nature is the reduced informational value of landscapes. This has an adverse effect on an individual’s psychological state, daily attitudes, and social position. It cannot be ruled out that a disturbed and “deaf-mute”...

Khortytsia Island, an ancient and sacred place in Ukraine, whose history dates back thousands of years and reaches the roots of civilization — the legendary first states of Aratta (6,200 BC), Oriana (mid-2nd century BC), Artania (7th-8th century AD), and subsequently the first Cossack republic, the...