The Verkhovna Rada has prohibited off-road driving in nature reserves for jeep enthusiasts.

On Wednesday, January 8, during a session, the Verkhovna Rada supported a bill in its second reading that prohibits motor vehicle movement outside of public roads in protected areas and establishes a list of those permitted to travel beyond these roads.

The bill №11024, which amends the Law of Ukraine on the "Natural Reserve Fund of Ukraine" and has been popularly referred to as the jeep ban law, was supported by 246 deputies.

According to the law, it is prohibited to drive in protected natural areas using SUVs, ATVs, buggies, or motorcycles outside of public roads. The only exceptions are representatives of certain services and organizations designated by the Verkhovna Rada, as well as local residents who can use public roads.

“Jeeping in protected areas contaminates the soil, destroys plant life, and harms wildlife. Movement via vehicles will remain partly allowed only for employees of environmental protection agencies, law enforcement, and other services carrying out official duties,” stated Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Svitlana Hrynchuk.

How exactly did the Verkhovna Rada ban jeeping?

It is important to note that car racing in reserves was already prohibited. However, the Verkhovna Rada has now effectively compiled a detailed list of those allowed to move within the natural reserve fund. From now on, access to reserves will be denied to everyone else.

Those granted permission to pass include:

• Land users and landowners whose land plots contain these territories and objects;

• Representatives of the State Environmental Inspection;

• Representatives of local authorities conducting state control over environmental protection;

• Law enforcement agencies, emergency services, and representatives of health care institutions;

• Military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, and sapper units while performing their official duties;

• Environmental protection public inspectors;

• Employees servicing infrastructure objects located within the protected areas;

• Local residents within the economic zones of national parks, regional landscape parks, buffer zones, and anthropogenic landscape zones of biosphere reserves, who utilize these areas for personal needs;

• Visitors to natural reserve institutions moving along designated tourist routes within the economic zones of national parks, regional landscape parks, and anthropogenic landscape zones of biosphere reserves, where seasonal and time restrictions for movement, as well as limits on the number and type of vehicles and their speed, are provided by the territory organization projects of these institutions;

• Visitors to natural reserve institutions accessing recreational areas and mass recreation sites within stationary recreation zones, economic zones of national parks, regional landscape parks, and anthropogenic landscape zones of biosphere reserves, defined by their territory organization projects or resolutions of special administrations of these institutions.

This list does not include jeepers who used to race in all-terrain vehicles, ATVs, buggies, or motorcycles within the natural reserve fund. Henceforth, drivers of these vehicles will not be permitted to travel outside of public roads in protected areas.

It is noteworthy that in September 2022, a petition titled "On Regulating Jeeping in Ukraine" was registered on the president's website by Lviv resident Khrystyna Zhuk. An avid hiker, she has observed the consequences of off-road driving in the Carpathians. The petition garnered over 25,000 signatures, prompting President Volodymyr Zelensky to instruct the Cabinet to address the issue and propose solutions.

At the beginning of 2024, the government supported the bill banning jeeping, which was then registered in parliament. Additionally, in May 2024, the Cabinet significantly increased fines for jeeping by 50 times, now ranging from 8,500 UAH to 17,000 UAH, and from 17,000 UAH to 25,500 UAH for officials.