Natural forests of Ukrainian Carpathians and adjacent areas: geospatial analysis by geomatics tools

Natural forests have persisted in Ukraine mainly in the Ukrainian Carpathians, most of which are known from previous publications. However, since 2019, the protection status of a significant part of them has changed. Therefore, it is necessary to consolidate the available information on identified natural forests in the study region, to identify their current protected status and the recent. A geospatial analysis of natural forests was performed by natural-geographical (ecoregions) and administrative units (hromadas), as well as the main river basins using indicators of area, species composition and protection status. In total, there were 119 primeval forest natural monuments established in 2019-2024. Consequently, about 10.56 thousand hectares of forests received nature conservation status for the first time. Thus, at the beginning of 2025, the share of natural forests under protection reached 59.6%. In general, five out of eleven types of natural forests by dominant tree species fall under almost complete protection – close to or 100%. But, two types of forests, that occupy the largest area, spruce and beech stands, have the lowest level of protection – 61.3 and 55.4% respectively. Natural forests identified in 20 out of the 23 river basins with the study region. In 12 river basins the majority of them (>70%) is represented by beechdominant forest stands, another five have predominance of spruce (53-78%), while only in the Stryvihor river basin natural forests are represented only by spruce-dominant forest stands. The largest share of natural forests among entire forest cover reaches 15-16% which are revealed in Tereblia, Teresva and Upper Tysa river basins. From perspective of administrative division, natural forests were identified within 82 territorial communities out of 211, which are partially or fully situated within the study region. In general, the share of natural forests among all forests within the hromadas’ territories varies substantially – from 0.02 to 33.4%. It was found that only half of the areas of natural forests growing within settlements have protected status. This creates an elevated risk of anthropogenic pressure on these ecosystems.