Photo books for 9 national parks: showcasing nature, people, and biodiversity of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Dur­ing 2025, Frank­furt Zoo­log­i­cal Soci­ety in Ukraine involved pro­fes­sion­al pho­tog­ra­phers and pub­lish­ers to cre­ate a series of high-qual­i­ty pho­to books for nine nation­al nat­ur­al parks of the Ukrain­ian Carpathi­ans.

These edi­tions are designed to offer a vivid and con­cise rep­re­sen­ta­tion of each park — their land­scapes, bio­di­ver­si­ty, com­mu­ni­ties, and the dai­ly work behind nature pro­tec­tion. In total, more than 3,000 pho­tographs were tak­en dur­ing field expe­di­tions, and most of them were includ­ed in the final books. The visu­al sto­ry com­bines macro shots, drone imagery, and unique footage from cam­era traps, which allows read­ers to glimpse the secret life of wildlife and feel as if they are stand­ing in the mid­dle of pris­tine nature.

«The wild nature of the Ukrain­ian Carpathi­ans is extra­or­di­nary, and not even the finest pho­tographs can cap­ture its true beau­ty. Nev­er­the­less, we did our utmost to cre­ate a high-qual­i­ty prod­uct that con­veys what it is like to be in these pro­tect­ed areas. We firm­ly believe that these books will raise aware­ness of the Ukrain­ian Carpathi­ans, high­light their unique bio­di­ver­si­ty, and inspire many more peo­ple to fall in love with them and help to pro­tect them,» — Natali­ia Serediuk, Brand Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Coor­di­na­tor, FZS Ukraine

A nation­al park is far more than its impres­sive scenery. It is a mosa­ic of valu­able biotopes, Red List species, the hid­den world of wild ani­mals, and the peo­ple who take care of these ter­ri­to­ries every day. It is also the com­mu­ni­ties that have lived along­side nature for gen­er­a­tions. All these ele­ments were impor­tant to reflect in the pho­to books. Beyond the essen­tial sec­tion on bio­di­ver­si­ty, the books high­light unique nat­ur­al loca­tions, com­bin­ing aer­i­al and close-up pho­tog­ra­phy to show each place holis­ti­cal­ly. 

The books were cre­at­ed in two lan­guages (Ukrainian–English) to help nation­al parks strength­en their coop­er­a­tion with inter­na­tion­al part­ners, present them­selves at glob­al con­fer­ences, and use the pub­li­ca­tion as a rep­re­sen­ta­tive gift for del­e­ga­tions and donors.

This ini­tia­tive was made pos­si­ble with the sup­port of the Inter­na­tion­al Cli­mate Ini­tia­tive (IKI).