A draft bill is being prepared in Ukraine that will allow local communities to sell naturally forested land for logging without hindrance and will relieve them of liability for illegal felling in ‘no-man’s’ forests. Environmental campaigners have reported on this development — it is based on proposals from local communities dissatisfied with the current regulations, as these do not allow them to manage forested land as they see fit.
As the “Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group” (UNCG) reported, representatives from a number of communities who had complaints against environmentalists visited the Verkhovna Rada’s Agricultural Committee last week, and subsequently met with Vitaliy Bezgin, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.
A simple solution to the forest ‘problem’
According to environmentalists, the coalition of dissatisfied communities is proposing direct and "threatening in their simplicity" measures. The main aim is to repeal all regulations that require the protection of existing unmanaged forests or recognise naturally regenerated forests as such, with subsequent restrictions on their use.
So, step 1 is to repeal Article 107 of the Forest Code of Ukraine. At present, if a forest is not managed by a state or municipal forestry enterprise, the community itself bears responsibility for any illegal felling of trees within it. In other words, the current regulations encourage communities to protect their forests either by setting up their own municipal enterprise or by transferring them to a forestry enterprise. However, communities are unwilling to either transfer their forests or pay for their felling.
Incidentally, it is not uncommon for the public prosecutor’s office to seek millions in compensation from local authorities through the courts for illegal logging carried out by ‘unknown persons’. EcoPolitika mentions these cases in its digests of environmental crimes.
The second proposal from the communities concerns allowing land that has become naturally forested to continue to be excluded from recognition as such. In this case, their designated use need not be changed, and they can be sold at auction as arable land or pasture.
UNCG reports that Oksana Pitsyk, the former head of the Smidyn community in Volyn, took part in the parliamentary-ministerial meetings. Her case is telling — the official was recently charged with facilitating illegal logging. It was clearly evident, both on the ground and in satellite images, that the area was covered by a fully-fledged forest. However, the community listed these plots on ‘Prozorro’ for ploughing as agricultural land.
"It’s hard to believe that the local authorities ‘didn’t notice’ the trees when they signed the documents. Now they’re trying to twist the story: they say the mayor was simply ‘looking after the budget’, and she’s being punished because of red tape," the environmental activists remarked.
The environmental group acknowledges that the current situation is unfair due to the extremely low rent that ‘LP “Forests of Ukraine”’ pays for the use of the forests. Increasing this rent was a constructive demand that requires a resolution.
"In reality, an attempt is being made to twist the meaning of terms — to portray the heads of amalgamated territorial communities who have allowed forests to be felled as ‘victims of the system’, whilst those who demand compliance with the law are branded as ‘enemies of the community’. “We are categorically opposed to the destruction of natural forests being legalised under the guise of budgetary concerns, and to the removal of accountability for logging,” the UNCG emphasised.
According to activists, a draft bill amending the current legislation is being prepared on the basis of the concerns raised by local communities.
EcoPolitic has previously reported in detail on the story of the felling of over 4,200 trees in the Smidyn community.
