1870 is considered the official date of Museum’s foundation; then the first display was mounted and it began receiving visitors. In 1940 the Museum joined the Academy of Sciences of the Ukraininan SSR.
The main lines of Museum’s activities are:
- the development of scientific principles of natural-history museology; formation, enrichment and maintenance of Museum’s collections;
- studies of the biological diversity and ecology of certain groups of present-day and fossil flora and fauna of the western region of Ukraine;
- eductional and popularizing activities.
Museum’s principal achievements:
1. Fundamental studies:
Theoretical and methodological principles of museum-based natural-history monitoring of biota taxonomic diversity have been adopted. The biotic diversity of protected areas of Western Ukraine has been studied. The structural and functional organization of streamside forest ecosystems of the Zakarpatska lowland has been investigated. A system for regional biocenotic monitoring of associations of higher insects has been established. Taxonomic revisions of separate groups of soil invertebrates have been done and 23 new-for-science species described (11 of them were collected on the territory of Ukraine); the establishment of 4 suborders has been grounded and 2 new orders have been described. The international project for studying the population of black stork in Western Polissia has been completed and practical steps towards protecting this Red Book species planned. Geological limits of distribution have been found for 118 conodont species and subspecies; changes in taxonomic composition of fossil associations are fixed on them.
2. Practical developments:
The overall inventory of Museum’s collection, started in 1997, has been completed. Its principal stock amounts to 355 618 museum items. Museum’s scientific holdings and display were entered to the state register of science objects that have the National Asset status. Methodological principles of constructing natural-history expositions have been developed. They have served as the groundwork for the concept of natural-history museum display.
In the time of Museum’s existence (1870–2007), its researchers have published 55 monographs, 31 volume of “Academic proceedings”, 10 subject collections of scientific writings, 21 catalogues, a reference glossary, 6 Museum guide-books, about 1,6 thousand of researchs papers. In 2006 the publication of “Museum collections” series was started.