The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources is planning to create a State Agency for Nature Conservation and Management to develop national parks, Minister Ruslan Strilets has said.

"One of the most important measures we have developed is the creation of the State Agency for Nature Conservation and Management. There are such agencies in all European countries," Strilets said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, such agencies employ people who care about the protection of wildlife and its conservation, while they must develop the tourism component to increase receipts of both the facilities themselves and local budgets, as well as reduce state budget expenditures on parks maintenance.

"Today, we are thinking about how to make our national natural parks more self-sustaining. They should start earning money, but in no case should they allow someone into the zone of strict conservation which can results in the loss of the ecosystem," the minister said.

At the same time, he said that the national park is also cooperation with private business, which already exists on their territories, but has been operating in the shadows for many years.

"Our task is to make this activity start to bring money to the state in the form of taxes, especially in the conditions of war it needs additional receipts," the minister said.