Rules and fines

The following activities are prohibited within Ukraine’s national nature parks and reserves:   

• Entering and staying in national nature park protected areas, unless accompanied by a member of the park’s personnel.  
• Driving motorized vehicles on tourist routes. 
• Entering restricted areas marked with signs.  
• Straying from designated tourist routes and ecological trails.   
• Setting up tents outside of designated camping areas.   
• Polluting water bodies, swimming in restricted areas, using detergents in open water, washing vehicles.
• Lighting fires outside of designated areas, smoking on hiking trails and ecological trails, discarding cigarette butts, or using fireworks and other pyrotechnics.  
• Damaging or uprooting trees, bushes, herbaceous plants, flowers, or any other plantlife.
• Disturbing the landscape, damaging soil cover, entering restricted caves, making inscriptions on rocks or tree bark.  
• Digging up or collecting archaeological, paleontological and geological remains and materials, or any objects of natural origin (including medicinal plants, mushrooms, berries) as souvenirs or for commercial purposes.  
• Leaving litter, or failing to clean recreation areas after use.
• Damaging park infrastructure, including signs, barriers, information stands, signs, furniture, or recreational facilities. 
• Making excessive noise or disturbing designated seasons of silence. 
• Disturbing or harming wildlife, damaging animal dwellings, bird nests, ant hills, burrows. This includes picking up wild chicks and other animals, taking eggs from nests, killing or injuring insects, mollusks, reptiles, mammals, or any other animals.  
• Hunting.  
• Fishing during the spawning season or in restricted areas. 

Violations of nature reserve fund rules result in fines and legal penalties. Below are key violations and their associated fines (excerpt from the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 575, 10.05.2022)  

The full Resolution “On Approval of Special Tariffs for Calculating the Amount of Damage Caused by Violation of the Nature Reserve Fund Legislation” can be found here. 

Fire-related offences 

Under Article 77-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, fines for burning plant residues are:

• UAH 3,060 to 6,120 for citizens
• UAH 15,300 to 21,420 for officials. 

For setting fire to the grass within a nature reserve: 

• UAH 6,120 to UAH 12,240 for citizens
• UAH 21,420 to UAH 30,600 for officials 

Under Article 77 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, violatingfire safety regulations in forests results in fines of: 

• UAH 1,530 to UAH 4,590 for citizens 
• UAH 4,590 to UAH 15,300 for officials 

For destroying or damaging forests by fire, the penalties are: 

•  UAH 4,590 to 15,300 for citizens
• UAH 10,710 to 30,600 for officials 

Criminal liability for large-scale environmental damage

According to Article 245 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, destruction or damage by fire of forests, green spaces around settlements, along railways, straw stubble, dry wild grasses, or agricultural land is punishable by:

• A fine of 5,400 to 9,000 tax-free minimum incomes
• Or restraint of liberty or imprisonment for a term of two to five years. 

If actions cause the death of people, mass death of animals or other severe consequences, the penalty increases to 5 to 10 years imprisonment.