The Sobache Girlo bay in Obolon could become a protected area.

The Department of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation of the Kyiv City Council has officially approved the application to designate the local nature reserve "Sobache Hirlo Bay" on the Obolon district as a protected area. This was reported by Kyiv City Council member, Victoria Ptashnik, on October 16, who has been advocating for this issue for over a year.

According to the council member, this decision became possible after her parliamentary appeal and joint efforts with the public organization "Park Pryichna" and the department. However, Viktoria Ptashnik emphasized that the territory is still far from its final environmental status, as there are still preparations for the draft decision, necessary approvals, and consideration at the session of the Kyiv City Council.

The deputy called the approval of the petition an important, but not final, step. She also noted that the systemic problem, related to the fact that the department has a monopoly on initiating the creation of protected areas, has not yet been resolved. The first-instance court sided with the citizens, but the Kyiv City Council is appealing this decision.

The public organization "Park Pryichna" submitted an application for environmental protection status for the bay as early as April 2025 year. Instead of responding within the legal timeframe, the department demanded to conduct a public survey through the "Kyiv Digital" application, which never took place. Subsequently, the department accused the organization itself of failing to provide a position on this survey. It was only after a parliamentary appeal and cooperation with the public organization that the situation began to change.