The Kyiv District Administrative Court has opened proceedings to recognize as unlawful the refusal of the state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” to approve the creation of a primeval forest natural monument of national importance “Primeval Forests of the Shipot Forestry”.
This was reported by WWF-Ukraine.
Now the court must oblige the company to agree on the creation of the relevant territory of the nature reserve fund.
What caused the scandal
In April, WWF-Ukraine analyzed satellite images and confirmed the fact that a road had been built through the allotments of the 1-2 quarter of the 3rd forestry unit of the Shipot forestry. The inspection, conducted by representatives of the State Ecological Inspectorate and the prosecutor's office, revealed 114 stumps of freshly cut beech trees up to 200 years old on a 0.5-hectare plot.
These locations belong to virgin forests and their protection zones, so any construction in this area is prohibited. The foresters knew about this, because in 2019, the director of the Perechyn Forestry State Enterprise signed an official conclusion confirming that these territories belong to virgin forests. But despite this, logging was carried out in these allotments.
How environmental organizations reacted
WWF-Ukraine said that after discovering the violation, they officially appealed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” and the Office of the Prosecutor General. Environmentalists also engaged the media and other international organizations to publicize the incident.
As of April 30:
- The Zakarpattia Regional Prosecutor's Office has launched a pre-trial investigation on the grounds of a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 246 – illegal felling of trees or shrubs in forests committed in nature reserves or on the territories or objects of the nature reserve fund, or in other specially protected forests;
- The Western Interregional Forestry and Hunting Administration appealed to the Carpathian Forestry Office branch to cancel the logging tickets issued by the administration;
- at the initiative of WWF-Ukraine, the issue of violation of environmental law in Ukraine, using the example of logging for road construction, was additionally included in the program at the meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management of the Carpathian Convention, held on April 28-29, 2025 in Bratislava (Slovakia). Representatives of the organization voiced their proposals to prevent such cases;
- WWF-Ukraine has officially filed a complaint with SGS (a company for inspection services, expertise, testing and certification) regarding violations of the principles and criteria of FSC certification by Uzhhorod National Forestry.
“We hope that such gross violations of environmental legislation and disregard for public participation in decision-making will lead to the revocation of the Uzhhorod Overland Forestry certificate,” the organization says.
Environmental activists, environmental NGOs and journalists warned in advance about possible violations by foresters. Media reports about the start of preparatory felling for road construction in the virgin forests of the Liutianske forestry of the Uzhhorod Forestry branch appeared a month ago. Environmental organizations and ecologists also claimed that such work was illegal.
On April 8, it became known that the construction affected the habitats of the Red Book snowdrops, and on April 15, it was reported that virgin forests were also being cut down.
WWF-Ukraine reported that the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” had twice refused to approve the creation of virgin forest natural monuments of national importance despite the availability of all the necessary scientific justifications and conclusions back in November last year. They urged the state enterprise to stop blocking the granting of the appropriate conservation status to almost 2,000 hectares of the most valuable forests in Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
