Environmental protection standards of the EU - national and regional realities
Authors: Tsaryk Ljubomyr , Kovalchuk Ivan , Tsaryk Petro , Kuzyk Ihor 
Published: February 2024

The purpose of the work are assess of the current state of protected areas of the Ternopil region territorial communities and comparison of these parameters with the environmental standards of the European Union.

Methods. Generalisation and systematisation of information, evaluation, comparison, method of analogies and typologies, statistical, mathematical, cartographic and geoinformation.

Scientific novelty. The main geoecological, economic and legal problems related to the prospects for the development of nature conservation at the national and regional levels are identified. These include the lack of motivation in management structures, low environmental culture of the population, insufficient funding for environmental protection, and the existence of different forms of land ownership. The level of conservation of territorial communities and new administrative districts of the Ternopil region is determined.

Results. Analysed by national and international environmental legislation and identifies the main causes of Ukraine's environmental problems, including military operations. Based on the comparative analysis, the authors compares the basic environmental parameters of Ukraine and the European Union, which demonstrate their significant differences. The level of conservation and the number of protected areas of the Ternopil region territorial communities are determined. The data obtained showed that 36.5% of the region's territorial communities have a conservation level of less than 1%. The situation with the low level of conservation is unsatisfactory in sixteen communities in the Ternopil district and four communities in the Kremenets and Chortkiv districts. Typological groups have been created and a corresponding map of the reserve status of the Ternopil region territorial communities has been constructed. It is proposed to create fifty-three new protected areas in twenty-five communities of the Ternopil region with a total area of 39358 hectares. The expediency of creating thirteen regional landscape parks, twenty-three hydrological natural monuments of local significance, six parks of landscape art monuments, four landscape reserves, four botanical natural monuments of local significance and three protected tracts is substantiated.

Conclusions. It has been established that the level of conservation of the Ternopil region territorial communities does not meet the current requirements of the European Strategy for the Conservation of Landscape and Biotic Diversity. In order to achieve international standards of protected areas and waters, the region needs to create both large protected areas – regional landscape and national nature parks – and local protection zones for hydrological objects, individual trees or landscapes. For this purpose, it is necessary to intensify scientific research of local and regional natural complexes. And the administrative staff of territorial communities should include a position responsible for landscaping, sustainable development and nature protection.