Healthy in reality but sick on paper, trees often fall victim to illegal logging in Ukrainian forests. The only safeguard against alleged sanitary logging was the environmental impact assessment (EIA). Soon, the Cabinet of Ministers is to consider a resolution that will weaken it.
According to the NGO "Golka," the review process is being conducted with violations and under the convenient cover of overcoming the consequences of the war.
An attempt to go through another door
A previous attempt to push through the abolition of EIA for continuous sanitary logging was unsuccessful. At that time, they tried to legalize it through the Verkhovna Rada. We are talking about draft law No. 9516.
Even the European Commission, according to activists, emphasized that the EIA procedure must be preserved.
This year, forest clearing lobbyists decided to take a different route — through the Cabinet of Ministers.
A flagrant violation of procedure
According to "Holka," the government plans to consider an ambiguous resolution from the Ministry of Economy at one of its upcoming meetings. To avoid public attention, this is being done without discussion or publication, which contradicts all principles of transparency.
Under the cover of war
The resolution provides for several major changes that directly threaten forest conservation:
- abolition of the EIA procedure for continuous sanitary felling;
- abolition of the requirement to reduce planned felling for large-scale sanitary felling.
The war is a factor accelerating the procedure for reviewing and adopting the document. The resolution was brought in to eliminate its consequences.
Screenshot of a section of the resolution, obtained through "Holka" sources
“The key here is: ‘including.’ It could have just said the single word ‘only.’ This one word determines whether simplified logging will be allowed across all of Ukraine, or only where it is caused by the war. Without exaggeration, this word determines the fate of the Carpathians, where wind turbines are already being constructed in gross violation in the highlands, and development threatens the mountain meadows,” – wrote Holka’s chairwoman Iryna Fedoriv.
Possible consequences
The EIA procedure prevented uncontrolled logging. Preparation and public discussion made it possible to verify whether certain forest areas were indeed diseased and needed to be logged.
If the resolution is adopted, forests will fall victim to uncontrolled actions by foresters. The document removes the safeguard that prevented them from increasing the volume of sanitary felling.
"Now the government has decided to replace the Verkhovna Rada and pass a resolution that abolishes the environmental impact assessment for continuous sanitary felling. This not only directly contradicts our legislation [...]. It is simply the opposite of what our European colleagues are asking for! This resolution is a threat not only to the Carpathians, but also to Ukraine's reputation on the international stage," emphasized Yulia Ovchinnikova, a member of parliament and member of the parliament's eco-committee.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that illegal sanitary logging is one of the most damaging crimes in the forestry sector for the country.
