The Framework Convention on the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians was ratified by the Law of Ukraine from 07.04.2004 № 1672-IV. Most articles of the Carpathian Convention do not have direct effect, they define general approaches to separate problems, to a greater extent provide political statement, than set obligatory conditions for the countries. Therefore, a tool for implementation are the Protocols, which will address specific sectoral issues of economic, social, as well as environmental direction to be applied within the region. In recent decades, human pressure on the Carpathian forests has steadily increased and efforts to protect, conserve and sustainably manage the natural resources of the Carpathians cannot be successful on a national scale and require international regional cooperation.

In order to fulfill the tasks defined in Article 7 of the Carpathian Convention on Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, a Protocol on Sustainable Forest Management to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (Protocol) was developed within the Working Group on Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry and Local Development with the participation of experts from the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine and leading Ukrainian scientists in the field of mountain forestry.

The Protocol was signed during the work of the III Conference of the Parties of the Carpathian Convention, which was held in Bratislava (Slovakia), May 25-27, 2011. In 2012, the Protocol passed the national procedure of ratification and was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 16, 2012. The Protocol entered into force on 21 October 2013.

In September 2014, the 4th Conference of the Parties to the Carpathian Convention approved a strategic plan for the implementation of the Protocol, the criteria and indicators for the definition of the virgin forests.

For more information, please visit http://www.carpathianconvention.org/