When Protection Means Tackling Solid Waste and Sewage in National Parks

Even during COVID, Global Conservation has been protecting the Jewel of the Carpathians – Mount Hoverla, the highest peak in Ukraine.

Until this year, the main entrance to Hoverla and the mountain trails to the summit had no solid waste or sewage system. With over 30,000 people ascending Ukraine’s tallest mountain each summer, this left large amounts of trash and human excrement on the trails and in the woods leading up to the summit.

Global Conservation is focused on Global Park Defense against illegal logging and wildlife poaching, but also considers pollution a major threat to Carpathians National Park, the oldest in Ukraine.

Over the past several months, our partners have been working to improve the waste management systems on Hoverla and to clean up the pollution that has been building up over the last years.

Park clean-up: Global Conservation funded two major clean-ups and education programs, called “Save Hoverla!”, working with the local communities and the park rangers.

Solid waste and recycling: With our funding, solid waste and recycling systems were installed for the first time.

Sewage bio-reactor: Our partners also installed the first sewage systems for processing toilet outflows for 30,000+ visitors, consisting of BioFilter purification equipment with a capacity of 3.0 m³ / day. This technology uses microorganisms to break down sewage, a very effective and low-cost treatment method.

Construction of the sewage bio-reactor.

Facts about Mount Hoverla
At 2061m, Hoverla is the highest mountain in Ukraine. The slopes are covered with beech and spruce forests, above which there is a belt of sub-alpine meadows called polonyna in Ukrainian.
The name "Hoverla" is of Old Hungarian origin and means 'snow mountain'.
Hoverla is composed of sandstone, a type of sedimentary rock, and on its eastern slope is the main spring of the Prut River.
The date of the peak's first ascent is unknown. In the late 19th century the mountain became a notable tourist attraction, especially among tourists from nearby Galician cities. In 1880 the first tourist route between the peak of Hoverla and Krasny Luh was marked by Leopold Wajgel of the Galician Tatra Society. The following year the first tourist shelter was founded there.
In the 20th century the mountain increasingly gained popularity as an extreme sports site. Nowadays, because of its prominence, too many unskilled adrenaline-seekers are attempting to climb it in winter, resulting in regular frostbite or even deaths.
The most popular approach to the summit starts from Zaroslyak on the mountain's east face and gains more than 3,600 vertical feet along a steep path with few switchbacks. There is a steeper route, as well as a gentler but lengthier one.