This initiative will improve the environmental situation in the industrial town of Sosnivka and create a cosy place to relax.
The day before, on 9 November, a new alley of 30 magnolias was planted in the city park of the mining town of Sosnivka in Sheptytskyi district of Lviv region. The trees were provided by Dyvosvit LLC.
The company’s director, Vasyl Bodnar, asked the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv Regional State Administration to help organise and select a location for the planting.
Andriy Senyuk, Head of the Department’s Natural Resources Protection Unit, explained that Sosnivka Park was chosen for several good reasons:
- “The territory of the industrial mining town of Sosnivka is systematically exposed to air, soil and surface water pollution due to the activities of mines. As of today, these indicators are among the highest in the region, and planting additional trees will have a positive impact on the environment;
- despite the large population, the city has only one city park, which has recently been documented as being in the process of being improved;
- the city needs to have a well-maintained public space for recreation;
implementation of this measure will contribute to the transformation of the Sheptytskyi coal microregion; - the city park has been maintained and improved for a long time without any budgetary funds by the city residents themselves under the leadership of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the UGCC in Sheptytske. Sosnivka, which was built next to the park and is the largest church in the city. It is interesting to note that the church was built in 1991-1998 by the town’s miners using winches without the use of a construction crane.
The planting of the alley was supported by the administrator of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul of the UGCC in Sosnivka. Sosnivka, Zenoviy Bunio, together with the church administrator Yaroslav Stasiuk and the head of the Sosnivka Sheptytska community, Iryna Kharchuk.
Over the course of a week, the townspeople, together with utility workers, prepared the area for planting the alley in the park: they dug holes, brought fertile soil, as the town’s soil is mostly sandy, and provided everything necessary for the trees to take root.
Residents of Sosnivka, 9th grade students of the local gymnasium No. 14 led by the principal Olga Sahaidak, employees of Dyvosvit, associate professor of the Department of Botany at the National Forestry University of Ukraine Anatoliy Shovgan, and head of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv Regional State Administration Andriy Senyuk joined in the planting of magnolias.