The maximum amount of damage caused by illegal logging over the past 5 years was UAH 817 million last year, and the largest volumes of wood were illegally cut down in Zhytomyr, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions.
The figures for this type of offense were shown in an infographic by Slovo i Dilo. It was created using data from the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine.
Source: t.me/pics_maps.
Scale of illegal logging by year
The peak and record year for logging was 2019, when 118,200 cubic meters of wood were illegally cut down. This is twice as much as in the following year, 2020, and ten times higher than the lowest volume recorded for the period – the volume of 2014. At the same time, the number of violations was half the average for the first decade of the 2000s. This indicates an increase in the volume of infringements per violation.
The year 2003 became the “champion” in terms of the number of offenses with 15.5 thousand cases recorded. The next year, 2004, was slightly behind. Back then, 14.7 thousand illegal logging was documented.
Amounts of damage
The largest amount of damage caused among the above (from 2019 to 2024) occurred last year and reached UAH 817 million. This is almost 4.5 times more than in 2022, and is the highest figure for the last 5 years. But this figure is only slightly higher than in 2019, when the damage caused by illegal logging amounted to UAH 814.2 million.
Which regions are leading in the anti-rating
For each year from 2019 to 2024, Slovo i Dilo has identified the top 3 regions with the largest volumes of illegal logging. Each of them includes Kharkiv region, Zhytomyr region three times, Kherson, Zakarpattia and Dnipro regions twice.
Instead of a conclusion
When Ruslan Strilets left the post of Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, he declared “the forestry reform brought to the finish line” as one of his achievements.
We can't help but agree: when the volume of illegal logging keeps growing year after year after year after the reform, it is indeed a “finish line.” At this rate, we are not far from achieving the “new ambitious goal” of UAH 1 billion in losses.
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported that activists warned of another attempt by foresters to cancel the EIA procedure for logging.
