ZMIYINY ISLAND: ECOLOGICAL RESOURCE WARS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES

The article discusses the issues of determining the legal status of the islands and the continental shelf, the delimitation of sea spaces on the example of the dispute between Ukraine and Romania over the Zmiyiny Island. Although in the frameworks of this issue the line has been already drawn, it is still relevant and interesting from the point of view of its solution, the legal status of the island, as well as legal, organizational and environmental consequences. The definition of the concepts “island” and “continental shelf” in the international law, as well as related to this the establishment of the legal status of the Zmiyiny Island was analyzed. The organizational and legal foundations in order to regulate the usage of the continental shelf and the island according to the environmental legislation of Ukraine were investigated. The decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the dispute between Ukraine and Romania over the Zmiyiny Island, its legal, organizational and environmental consequences was examined. While the research the following conclusions were made: there are gaps in the international law concerning the status of the island and the establishment around it of the certain and clearly delineated maritime spaces, the geographical features of the islands are not taken into account, etc. Currently the national legislation does not consolidate the definition of the concept of the “continental shelf”. And even if we take into account that the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a part of the national legislation, its norms are quite general. There is a need to consolidate special norms of usage of the space under consideration (in particular, in Ukraine) in order to avoid similar precedents in the future, because presently the disputed territories and objects unfortunately already exist in our country. As the research showed, this dispute had not only economic consequences – the loss of the continental shelf around the island, financial losses during its surface development, environmental consequences – a negative impact on the environment of the Zmiyiny Island, which is important for the migrating birds, thereby violating the obligations associated to the entry of the island into the register of European territories important for the protection of the birds (IBA), etc. It should be noted that now the Zmiyiny Island could be used for the tourist purposes, but only as an object of the green (ecological) tourism, which has a unique ecosystem that requires a special protection.