Activists searched for illegal logging in the Carpathians in September-October 2024: what they found

Experts have identified 19 sites in the Carpathians, in the Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, where forest cover changes with potential violations occurred from August 25 to October 24, 2024.

These results of their own research were published by the NGO Forest Initiatives and Society.

How monitoring was carried out

Specialists of the organization systematically analyze space images of the Carpathian forest cover as part of the "Forest Monitoring" project. They compare the detected changes in the forest stock with the necessary permit documents for felling.

"Any modification of the forest massif must be substantiated with documentation, moreover, the real state of felling must coincide with the terms and configuration of the area of ​​the felled forest defined in the document. The type of cutting must also correspond to the declared one," they say.

For comparison, experts use:

• Sentinel-2 satellite images;
• register of logging tickets on the website of the "Forestry Innovation and Analytical Center" ("LIAC");
• electronic register "Diya".

The necessary cartographic materials are compiled on the basis of electronic maps from the materials of "LIAC" and the portal "Geoinformational systems of management of forest resources of Ukraine".

What was discovered

In total, during the specified period, experts discovered 113changed plots on the territory of Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, of which 94recorded in electronic registers and supported by logging permit tickets.

"Violations were not detected in the areas either, so to say the least 83% during this period, the forest cover underwent changes in a legal way", – experts say.

They allocated on the territory of the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" in Chernivtsi region 13 plots, which require a more detailed examination:

• 2 plots of "Berehomet forestry and hunting farm" that do not have registered logging tickets;
• 4 plots of SE SLAP "Carpathian State Special Forest Farm", which have logging tickets, but need clarification of the forest user;
• 2 plots of the branch of "Putylsky Forestry", which have logging tickets, but need clarification of the placement configuration;
• 1 plot without a defined forest user;
• 2 plots on the territory of the Putylska settlement territorial community that do not belong to the forest fund;
• 1 plot of SE "Vyzhnytsky State Special Forest Farm", about which there is no information in the logging ticket databases.

On the territory of the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" in Ivano-Frankivsk regionthere are 6 plots, which require more careful attention:

• 2 plots of the branch "Nadvirnya forestry" that do not have logging tickets;
• 1 site of the branch "Nadvirnyanske lisozodstvo", on which questionably substantiated continuous sanitary felling is being carried out;
• 2 sections of the branches "Osmolodsk Forestry" and "Vygodsk Forestry", which have logging tickets, but need to clarify the allocation of felling;
• 1 plot of the "Verkhovyn Forestry" branch, which has a logging ticket, but needs to find out the type of felling.

The NGO reported that the experts sent clarifying requests to the forest users based on the results of the monitoring and are waiting for their answers to investigate the real state of felling in the areas. As the next stage of the work, experts determined the selection of sites for direct field surveys.

Earlier, EcoPolitic told about the head of the "Beregiv Forestry" branch of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine" Yaroslav Oliinyk, whom journalists blamed in the organization of a scheme of illegal felling and trade in valuable wood, which brings him an income of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias.

We also reported on scandal, which arose regarding illegal logging on the territory of the Kaniv nature reserve, as well as about accusation foresters in false excuses.