National EcoCentre of Ukraine

The National EcoCentre of Ukraine was registered by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as a nongovernmental organization in 1991. Its purpose is to join the efforts of scientists, public figures, environmental groups, and citizen activists in projects to improve the environmental situation in Ukraine.

In 1992 EcoCentre obtained six grants from the Committee for Science and Technology of Ukraine for scientific projects. The most important ones were an evaluation of the state of the Azov water basin for its rehabilitation, and development of plans for aerospace monitoring of vegetation in Ukraine. Also in 1992 other branches of EcoCentre were established in Kyiv, Berdyansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Ryh, Mariupol, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kherson, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Kharkiv, and Donetsk.

Since 1991 EcoCentre has been a partner of Global ReLeaf International, sponsored by American Forests. In co-operation with Global ReLeaf, EcoCentre developed a program, "Green Halo of Ukraine," which included the development of a Heritage Park in Kyiv. On Earth Day members of EcoCentre and of the National Committee in support of European Nature Conservation Year�1995, together with schoolboys and schoolgirls, planted trees at the Heritage Park in Kyiv. Tree planting actions were also conducted in Vinnitsa city and Vinnitska oblast.

EcoCentre has conducted 20 scientific projects, the most important of which were: "The Priorities, Concept and National Strategy of Nature Use in Ukraine;" "An Investigation of the Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster on Vegetation in the 30-Km Zone;" and "National Report on the Environmental Situation in Ukraine in 1992."

Since 1991 EcoCentre has published an independent bi-monthly scientific and public magazine Oykumena: Ukrainian Ecological Review. At the end of 1993 EcoCentre formed the Institute of Ecology to carry on work on scientific problems in areas of ecology and nature protection. In 1994 it founded the Dovkillya (Environment) Publishing Agency. In 1997 it began publication of a quarterly journal "World In Your Hands" published in Ukrainian and English. (A limited number of copies are kept on-hand at ISAR-Kyiv offices.)

In 1996 EcoCentre organized a nation-wide campaign "Living Water" in which more than 8,000 volunteers tested water quality, cleaned streams, and planted trees. The campaign was preceded by a series of public service announcements on national TV and a televised roundtable discussions by academic experts, government leaders and NGO representatives that focused on watershed conservation and water protection efforts.

EcoCentre now has 17 branches throughout Ukraine and more than 300 members, including an active youth division. EcoCentre staff numbers seven people (two full-time). Three of these are members of the magazine Oykumena's editorial staff.

Last updated:    January 1997

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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