Ecologists and priests join forces to protect nature

From now on, the ancient trees on the grounds of Kyiv’s Church of St. Pantaleon will be under the church’s protection. The first tree slated to become a ward of the church is a venerable 150-year-old acacia. Rev. Mykolai, the dean of the church, consecrated the tree on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul.

The priests at this church took this step because of fears that the acacia and other trees growing near it will be cut down. Rev. Mykolai says that government officials are planning to introduce a number of essential changes to the grounds of the church. There are plans to demolish the Maxim Gorky Palace of Culture, situated near the church, to make way for a casino and billiards room. Next to it is a chapel that used to belong to the church on which hung a bronze plaque with the inscription “Historical Monument.” Construction is going on at full speed. It is rumored that a dental clinic will open here soon, a woman from the parish explained.

Rev. Mykolai told us that although the church was built four years ago, it already has a large number of parishioners. “We not only have Orthodox believers; Catholics and Muslims also come to our church. There are many young people among them. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to enlarge the church premises by redoing the chapel,” the priest said regretfully. “We could open a refectory or a Sunday school. Of course, the parishioners are not giving up and are offering the church all kinds of assistance, including collecting signatures for a petition against building anything on the church grounds, but it has not brought any results.”

Kyiv’s Ecological-Cultural Center decided to support the clergymen. Its head, Volodymyr Boreiko, is concerned about the centuries-old oak and elm tree growing on the grounds of St. Pantaleon’s Church near the consecrated white acacia. They too are at risk from builders’ saws.

According to Boreiko, the preservation of green areas has become the capital’s number-one problem. “Unfortunately, ancient trees continue to disappear from Kyiv’s map,” he says. “In another couple of years the city will probably lose the last witnesses of historical events. Trees that were home to squirrels for a long time have disappeared as a result of the construction going on in the park near Kyiv’s Polytechnic University. The old-age Buialo Oak, which stood on the grounds of the republican station of young naturalists, has also disappeared. A whole slew of villas for the elite have been built near the Pyrohove Museum, with the result that many ancient trees have been destroyed.”