Prytysianskyi Regional Landscape Park

Prytysianskyi Regional Landscape Park (Притисянський регіональний ландшафтний парк; Prytysianskyi rehionalnyi landshaftnyi park or PRLP). A regional landscape park established in 2010 on the basis of several small nature preserves located in Berehove and Vynohradiv raions, Transcarpathia oblast. The PRLP covers an area of 10,300 ha and is under the jurisdiction of the Transcarpathia Oblast Council.

The PRLP encompasses three distinctive zones: an area between two dams on the Tysa River; a similar area along the Liatorytsia River; and the Borzhava River valley, originating from the Borzhava mountain group. The predominant landscape type in the park are lowlands formed from ancient floodplains that were covered by oak forests and natural meadows in pre-agricultural times. The most characteristic examples of the park’s rich and diverse flora are floodplain ash forests with Pannonian ash and occasional alder-oak and willow-alder forests on the terraces of the Borzhava River; willow and poplar forests in the floodplain of the Tysa River; and well-preserved marshlands in the Borzhava River basin. The PRLP connects with several nature protected areas in Hungary and Slovakia and, together with them, forms a unique natural complex of wetlands with many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.

A region populated to a large extent by Ukraine’s Hungarian minority, the PRLP is rich in natural and historic landmarks. Picturesque lowland landscapes and, in particular, rivers, lakes, and ponds are popular tourist attractions that make the park into a favorite water-sport and eco-tourism destination.

Volodymyr Kricsfalusy

[This article was written in 2011]